1 Concepts

1.1 Modifying SAP Forms

If you want to modify SAP forms, set up your development environment as follows:

1. Make sure that no SAP-standard forms are stored as client-specific copies in your development client.
Such forms should be held only in client 000, the SAP development and installation client. If you access an SAP-standard form from another client, then the central copy in client 000 is used.

If you need to remove SAP-standard objects from your development client, see Notes 10388 and 3355 in the SAP Online Service System (OSS). These notes explain the procedure for saving modified forms and then deleting all forms.

2. To modify SAP standard forms,

Copy the forms you need from client 000 to your development client.

Rename the forms using a name from the customer name reserve (names starting with Y or Z).

Copy the forms to one of your own Y or Z development classes.

Renaming the SAP standard object makes it possible to manage and transport your changes with the SAP workbench organizer. The organizer is not activated for SAP-standard objects that are modified in clients other than 000.

3. To put your modifications into effect, you must also modify the ABAP print program used to print documents that use this form. You should rename such print programs and store them in your own Y or Z development classes.

You can use the SAP Customizing System to replace the SAP print program with your modified print program in the affected applications

1.2 Forms: Concepts

Forms are used to control the page layout and also the text formatting in your documents. Before formatting a document for output to the screen or to a printer, you must assign a form to it. If you do not specify a form for a document, then the SYSTEM form is assigned to the document by default.

Application-specific forms are used in SAP applications to specify the page layout for such special documents as invoice or checks. These forms specify the structure of the information on the page(s) of such a document. They define, for example, the address header, item lines, the footer, and so on.
There are two ways to format texts with forms:

In the standard SAPscript text processing (Tools  Word processing  Standard text), you can select a form for a document. You can then type text into the main window of the form and output the document in the format defined in the form.For example, you can select a form for a letter. You can then type the body text of the letter in the main window. When you print the letter, the default text elements in the other windows of the form (heading, footer, and so on) are printed with the body text.

A document can be generated by a print program in one of the SAP applications. The print program uses a form to generate the document. Most correspondence and document generation in the SAP System are handled by way of print programs.

A print program selects the text elements that are to be printed in the windows of a form. It may also collect information from the user or ask the user to input text directly, as in some correspondence functions. The print program may also provide data for variables defined in the form.

Finally, the print program uses the form to format the document for display or printing.

1.3 Client and Language Versioning: Concepts

Forms and styles are client-specific. That is, a form or style other than the SAP standard in client 000 is available only in the client in which it was created.

Forms and styles are also language-specific. That is, the definitions and texts in a form or style are defined for a particular language. Forms and styles can be translated using the standard SAP translation tools.

If a form or style that is used in a document is not available in the client in which the document is being printed, then SAPscript checks for the form or style in client 000. If it is found there, then the client 000 version is used to print the document.

SAP standard forms and styles are always held in client 000. You can take advantage of the client 000 defaulting as well by storing your Yxxx and Zxxx forms and styles there. That way, if a local version of a form or style is not present in a client, the client 000 version is used instead.

Language rules: SAPscript uses the following rules to manage versions of forms and styles in different languages:

The language in which a form or style is created is its "original language." You can translate a form or style into other languages using SAP’s translation tools.

If a form or style is needed only in its original language and need not be translated, then you can indicate this in the language attributes in the header data. The form or style then does not appear in work lists in the translation tools.

In versions other than the original language version, changes to a form or style are limited only to translation of texts. No changes to definitions and attributes are permitted.

2 Componentes

2.1 Header Data

You can find header data in both form and style maintenance. In style maintenance, it is used primarily to present important information – information designed to make it easier for the end user to select a style. The header data in form maintenance, on the other hand, is used for information and control purposes. For this reason, the header data of a form will be described in more detail.

Below, the header data is described as it appears in the alphanumeric Form Painter.

Like the header data of a style, the header data of a form comprises two parts: the data set by the system and the data you are expected to enter. The latter is dealt with separately.

Device-independent entries.

DescriptionA short explanatory description of the form (also applies to the style), designed to make selection easier for the end user.

Form classYou can assign a form to a class to help you organize and search for forms. The default set of classes is the set of program classes in your system.

Start pageTells the print program which page format in a form to use first for printing.

Default paragraph Paragraph set to * in standard text maintenance.

Tab stop A grid set at specified intervals in all windows defined in the form. However, you should note that the tab stops are only valid in paragraphs where you have not defined your own tabs.

Language, Original language, Translation applicUse these fields to record the master language and language of the current version of a form. Marking Translation applic makes the form accessible for translation from the SAP System’s translation tools (transaction SE63).

Device-dependent entries.You can only enter values here that are supported in the R/3 printer definition. If you make other entries, this leads to errors in the check routine.

Page format Determined from the spool administration table with transaction SPAD. Make sure there is a printer assignment – there must be an additional spool format for the printer with the same page format.

Orientation Depends on the page format selected. This can also be determined from the spool administration table. Please note that the formats landscape and portrait are not supported by all printers.

Lines per inch (LPI) Basis for converting the unit of measurement LN in style and form maintenance. The value 6.00 is set by the system, as this value is supported by all printers.

Characters per inch (CPI)Basis for converting the unit of measurement CH in style and form maintenance. The value 10.00 is set by the system, as this value is supported by all printers.

Font attributes With these fields, you can set the default font for a form. The default font applies if other objects do not specify a font. SAPscript suggests a default font, which you can change.

2.2 Paragraph Formats and Attributes

In SAPscript, paragraphs are formatted using formats and their corresponding attributes. Text processing is simplified by the use of different paragraph attribute groups:

Standard

Font

Tabs

Outline

There are naming conventions for paragraph tags:

The paragraph tag can have one or two characters.

The first character in the paragraph tag must be a letter, the second a letter, number, or blank; special characters are not valid.

The paragraph format must be identified in the Description field.

2.2.1 Standard Paragraph Attributes

In the Standard attribute group, you find the general attributes that can be defined in paragraph formats:

Description Precise explanation of your paragraph tag, so that the user can immediately identify it.

Left or right margin Amount of space between the paragraph and the left or right border of the form window.

Indent first line Indent of the first line of a paragraph. If the value is positive, it is indented to the right, if it is negative, it is indented to the left. If you specify a negative value, then you must place the minus sign after the number: 1- .

Space before and space afterSpace before and space after control the amount of space between paragraphs. The actual space between paragraphs results from the space after the preceding paragraph and the space before the following paragraph.

Alignment Alignment of a paragraph.

Left-aligned

LEFT

Right-aligned RIGHT

Centered CENTER

Justified BLOCK

Line spacing Spacing between the lines. The default value is 1 line; the LPI value (lines per inch) in the header data is used to calculate the line spacing.

No blank lines Suppression of blank lines. You can control whether the blank lines of a paragraph should be suppressed in the printout or not:

No entry

blank lines not suppressed

X blank lines suppressed

Page protection Cohesion of a paragraph. It is possible to determine whether or not a paragraph can be divided by a page break.

No entry

no page protection (default)

X all lines of the paragraph are on one page

Next paragraph same page Cohesion of two adjacent paragraphs. Here you can define whether the subsequent paragraph should begin on the same page (that is, at least the first line of the subsequent paragraph must be on the same page).

No entry

subsequent paragraph is output on the same page or the next page, depending on the amount of space (default)

X subsequent paragraph begins on the same page

2.2.2 Font Attributes for Paragraphs

You can specify font attributes for paragraph formats. They control the font used in the text. You can specify these attributes both for the default font in the header and for particular paragraph formats:

Font family Enter a font supported in the SAPscript font maintenance.

Font size Enter the size of a character font. It is measured in 1/10 point.

Bold/ItalicSpecify whether to use bold-face printing or italics.

Underlined Mark this attribute to underline entire blocks of text.

When defining a paragraph format, use More to specify these underline attributes:

Spacing between the base line and the underline

Thickness

IntensityIntensity is expressed in percent: 0 % is a black underline; 100 % is no underline.

If you defined default underlining in the header, then the fields for underline attributes are already displayed on the screen.

The following selection criteria apply to the font attributes bold, italics, and underlined:

Off attribute is not set

Retain inherited

On attribute is set

The combination of font family, font size, bold type attribute and italics attribute is referred to as a system font or SAP font. To use the SAPscript font maintenance, choose Tools  Word processing  Font.

2.2.3 Tabs in Paragraph Formats

You can define as many tab positions as you require for each paragraph format. The text can be aligned in different ways:

Left-aligned with LEFT

Right-aligned with RIGHT

Centered with CENTER

At the sign with SIGN

At the comma or decimal point with DECIMAL

You can control the tab feed in a paragraph with tab positions. The tab stops you define in the paragraph format replace the tab spacing you defined in the header data of the form. However, this depends on the extent to which you have defined tab stops in the paragraph format. If there are fewer tabs in the paragraph formats than in the header data, the tab stops of the header data are used for the rest of the line. The tab stops are represented as, , in the text editor.

You can use different units of measurement to define a tab position:

CH Characters

CM Centimeters

MM Millimeters

PT Points

TW Twips (1/20 point)

The unit of measurement CH is converted to an absolute unit of measurement using the CPI value (characters per inch) from the header data of the form.

2.2.4 Paragraph and Heading Numbering

The paragraph numbering and marking attributes are used to structure texts into chapters, subchapters, and sections. Numbering is carried out automatically by SAPscript.

You can create an outline with the entry options available:

Outline Enter the name of the highest-level paragraph in an outline hierarchy here. The outline hierarchy is created by assigning this paragraph to all outline paragraphs.

Outline level Enter the level in the outline hierarchy. The outline levels of the paragraphs are numbered upwards from 1; the highest outline level therefore has the outline number 1.

Number margin Specify the space between numbering and window border. Note that your numbering may extend into the text area of the paragraph if the difference between the left margin and the number margin is not great enough to hold the numbering characters.

Left/right delimiter Specify the character that precedes or follows the numbering.

Number chaining Specify whether you want the paragraph numbering of the paragraph to be preceded by the numbering of all higher paragraphs in the hierarchy.

Example for number chaining

with without
3. 3.
3.1 1.
3.2 2.
3.2.1 1.

Character string Specify the numbering format. The numbering can be assigned a different font or character format to the rest of the paragraph.

Numbering type

ARABICArabic numerals: 1, 2, 3.

CHAR Fixed character: letter or numeral, entered in the field

LETTER Letters: A-Z

ROMAN Roman numerals: I, II, III, IV

Depending upon the numbering type that you select, the following attributes may also apply:

Fixed character Define the fixed character to be used for numbering. You should only make an entry in the field Fixed character if you have specified CHAR as the numbering type. Fixed characters include + - and o .

Output length Enter the number of characters for Arabic numerals.

Upper case Specify for letters or Roman numerals.

2.3 Character Formats and Attributes

Character formats, as opposed to paragraph attributes, allow you to format entire blocks of text within a paragraph.

Character attribute groups can be:

Standard

Font

When you define character formats, observe the following naming conventions:

The character format can have one or two characters.

The first character must be a letter, the second a letter, number, or blank; special characters are not valid. Enter a simple explanation in the field Description. It is intended to help the user make a selection.

2.3.1 Standard Attributes for Character Formats

Marker Links a search key to the selected character string when the end user uses this character format. Examples include glossary, hypertext, and data element links. Here, selected character strings are assigned the appropriate key.

Bar code Bar code that is required for certain variables and is known to the printer, for example EAN8. The character string is printed as a bar code if the character string concerned is selected. Bar code names, such as EAN8, refer to system bar codes. These are defined in the SAPscript font maintenance (Tools  Word processing  Font).

Protected The character string is not split by a line break, but printed together on the next line.

Hidden The character string is not printed. The text is only visible in the text editor.

Superscript/subscript The character string is printed half a line higher or lower. The following options are available for defining these attribute types:

OffAttribute is not set

Retain Attribute is inherited

On Attribute is set

2.3.2 Font Attributes for Character Formats

Font attributes can be specified for character formats as well as for paragraph formats. You have the same options as for defining font attributes for paragraph formats.

2.4 Windows

Windows are defined in form maintenance. They represent areas that are positioned on pages – as page windows – and in which at a later time text is printed. You must define at least one window for each form. Otherwise, SAPscript cannot format the text.

You can assign window names and window types. However, note that you can define only one main window per form.

Use one of these window types:

MAIN Main window in which continuous text is printed. This is the window used by dialog users of a print program and form. For example, the body text of a letter would be entered in MAIN. The text in the main window can extend over several pages. If the text fills one page, output continues in the window of the next and subsequent pages, as long as MAIN has been defined for these pages.

VAR Window with variable contents. The text can vary on each page in which the window is positioned. Variable windows are formatted for each page. To every window you can assign text, which is printed in the corresponding window when the form is formatted. To assign text, use text elements, which are stored with the form. To create and maintain text elements with the SAPscript Editor, choose Text elements. Should the text selected for the window exceed the window size, then the text is cut off.

CONST Window with constant contents that is formatted only once. Currently, CONST windows are processed in the same way as VAR windows. You should only use windows of type VAR.

2.4.1 Default Paragraph

For a particular window, you can override the default paragraph format that is set in the form header. Enter the default format that should apply in the window in the Default paragraph field in the window definition screen.

2.5 Pages

You must define at least one page for every form. And you must designate a "first" page in the form header. Otherwise text formatting is not possible. In addition, you should inform the system which page is to be used after reaching the end of the first page. If you do not specify a next page, the output of your text ends at the end of the current page.

To define a page, give it a name and specify attributes for it:

Name of the next page

Page counter mode

INC Increases the counter by 1

HOLD Counter remains unchanged

START Sets the counter to 1

You can display the contents of the page counter with the system symbol&PAGE&.

Numbering type of the page counter

ARABIC Arabic numerals

LETTER Letters

ROMAN Roman numerals

Although CHAR is displayed as an entry option for the numbering type of the page counter, internally CHAR is converted to ARABIC.

Output length for page numbering with numerals

Upper or lower case for numbering with Roman numerals or letters

Resource nameWith Resource name, you specify that the paper for this page should be taken from a particular paper tray at the printer.In Resource name, enter the print control that has been defined for switching to the paper tray you want to use. In printer types pre-defined by SAP, these print controls are generally as follows:

TRY01 Select first paper tray

TRY02 Select second paper tray (if available at the printer)

TRY03 Select third paper tray (if available at the printer)

TRYEN Print envelopes (if available at the printer)

TRYMN Switch the printer to manual paper feed (if available at the printer). The printer pauses until you feed a sheet of paper into it.

TRYME Switch the printer to manual envelope feed (if available at the printer). The printer pauses until you feed an envelope into it.

You can use all tray selection print controls except TRY03 with suitably equipped printers that are defined with the following SAP device types: HPLJSTND, HPLJ_II, HPLJIIID, HPLJ4, LX4039, and SNI20XX8.

You can use TRY01, TRY02, TRY03, and TRYMN on suitably equipped printers that are defined with these device types: KYOF1000, KYOF1200, KYOFS1500.

See the spool system (transaction SPAD) to check on how your printers are defined.

Print modeWith Print mode, you can specify single- or double-sided printing for a page. You can choose from the following values:

' ' Currently active printing mode continues unchanged.

S The page is printed in simplex mode. That is, the printer should print on only one side of the paper. If another mode was previously active, then the printer is switched to simplex mode with the start of the page.

D The page is printed on the first side of a sheet in duplex mode. If another mode was previously active, then the printer is switched to duplex mode with the start of the pageand continues in this mode.

T The page is printed on the first side of a sheet in tumble duplex mode. That is, the printer prints on both sides. The page on the second side is always inverted, so that the footer of the second page is printed opposite the header of the first page.

If another mode was previously active, then the printer is switched to tumble duplex mode with the start of the page and continues printing in this mode.

Print modes are currently supported for printers that use the PCL-5 language. These are printers that are defined with the following SAP device types: HPLJ_II, HPLJIIID, HPLJ4, LX4039, SNI20XX8.

See the spool system (transaction SPAD) to check on how your printers are defined.

The print controls for these functions are SPMSI (begin simplex printing); SPMDU (begin duplex printing); SPMTU (begin tumble duplex printing); SPMFS (print on first side of sheet in duplex or tumble duplex mode); and SPMBS (print on second side of sheet in duplex or tumble duplex mode).

2.5.1 Defining Follow-On Pages in Duplex Print Modes

You switch to duplex or tumble duplex mode with a form page for which one of these modes is specified. To continue printing in the current mode, for follow-on pages you must define another page in which the Print mode field is empty. Otherwise, the following pages after the mode switch will continue to be printed only on the front sides of new sheets of paper.

The reason: When SAPscript sends a page with Print mode D or T to the printer, it not only sets the print mode accordingly. To ensure that the first page in the new mode is correctly output, SAPscript also instructs the printer to output the page on the front side of a sheet. If SAPscript sends a sequence of D or T pages to the printer, the output is printed only on the front side of each sheet.

You define a first page named FIRST for a form to be printed in duplex mode. You therefore set the Print mode in FIRST to D.

To make the duplex printing work correctly, you must define a second page FOLLOWER in which Print mode is left empty. In the form definition, you specify FOLLOWER as the follow-on page for FIRST and for itself as well.

Your text is then printed in duplex mode. FIRST switches the printer to duplex mode and forces printing of the first page on the front side of a new sheet. FOLLOWER accepts the duplex mode and sends no further mode print controls to the printer. The printer therefore alternately prints FOLLOWER pages on the fronts and backs of sheets.

2.5.2 Testing Tray Selection and Print Mode Selection

SAP provides predefined SAPscript documents with which you can test whether tray selection and print mode selection are working properly on your printers.

2.6 Page Windows

When you define page windows, the window names are linked to page names. You must specify the position and size of the window on the assigned page.

Define the position of a window by specifying the left margin and upper margin and the size of a window by specifying its width and height.

Left margin

Space between the window and left margin of the page

Upper margin Space between the window and upper margin of the page

Window width Width of the window depending on the page format selected

Window height Height of the window depending on the page format selected

Note that the width of the main window must be the same on all pages. All other window types can have different sizes and positions on different pages.

To print multiple columns, define several main windows on a page. As text entry is continuous, once the first main window has been filled, output continues in the second main window.

2.7 Text Elements

You can define text elements (window texts) for each window. On the Form: Request screen, choose Edit  Text elements.

The print program accesses text elements by name, formats them and prints them in the respective window. That is, the program can decide which text elements should be printed in a particular window. It calls these text elements by name to print them. You must therefore change text element names in the print program if you make any changes to text element names in a form.

In the layout of a text element, you can use only the paragraph and character formats defined in the form.

This example shows a section of a main window of a form, with an item line of an order confirmation. The /E in the tag column is used to identify the text as a text element, ITEM_LINE is the name of the text element.

2.7.1 Default Text Element

At the start of a window, you can define a text element without the /E command in the paragraph format column. This text is always printed at the start of the window. It is not necessary to insert this text explicitly via a print program.

2.8 Main Window

In the definition of page windows you can define several main windows per page. However, you must first specify an area for the main windows.

This function allows you to output text either in columns as in newspapers, or next to and below each other as in label printing.

You can specify the size and position of this area under the group heading Area:

Left margin

Amount of space from the left border of the page

Right margin Amount of space from the right border of the page

Area width Width of the area (required entry)

Area height Height of the area (required entry)

To position several main windows in this area, you must assign values to the variables under the group headings Horizontal and Vertical.

Under the group heading Horizontal, enter

Spacing

Horizontal spacing of the main windows

Number Number of main windows (horizontal)

Under the group heading Vertical, enter

Spacing

Vertical spacing of the main windows

Number Number of main windows (vertical)

The units of measurement which can be used in the fields Left margin, Upper margin, Area width, Area height, and Spacing for both horizontal and vertical measurements are:

CH Characters

CM Centimeters

LN Lines

MM Millimeters

PT Points

TW Twips (1/20 point)

For the vertical area, CH is calculated using the CPI value in the header data of the form. LN is converted on the basis of the LPI value in the header data of the form.
The field Start position under the group heading Positions is a counter for the main windows defined in a page window. You can use this counter to number the columns. Always enter a value greater than or equal to 1 for the counter Start position.

If you change the counter of the form main window, the form main window can no longer be distinguished from the main windows of the page window.

3 Técnicas

3.1 Displaying Versions of Forms

To display the versions of a form, choose Utilities  Versions.
The version list includes the following information:

Version and status:

NewNo active version, not available for use as yet.

ActiveThe current form is the active version, in effect in the System.

RevisedThe current form is being changed. There are active and edit versions of the form.

TranslatedThe current form must be translated.

Current language key

Original language of the form.

Description of the form.

To display detailed information on a version of the form, put the cursor on the version and choose Form info.

3.2 Including Graphics

You can include graphics – such as diagrams or charts – in your SAPscript documents. Typically, such graphics are included in documents by way of forms.

Graphics are uploaded either in "Baseline TIFF 6.0" format (file extension.tif on PC files) or as printer macros. A printer macro in this case is the sequence of printer instructions needed to print out a diagram.

Graphics and printer macros are uploaded with program RSTXLDMC into individual standard text documents. At upload, the graphics or printer macros are converted to the format required by the target printer, either PostScript, PCL-5 for newer Hewlett-Packard and compatible printers, or PRESCRIBE for Kyocera printers. The resulting SAPscript document can be printed only on the target printer type. Online display is not possible.

In a form, you might include graphics such as a company logo in the header window. You can accommodate printing on different types of printers with separate includes for each format in which you have uploaded graphics. If you define the includes as text elements, then your print program can select the appropriate include depending upon the device type of the printer that the user selects. You can determine the device type by looking up the printer name in table TSP03 (field PADEST) and evaluating the device type (field PATYPE).

For more information, see the report documentation for RSTXLDMC.

Using graphics in forms can greatly increase the size of print requests and therefore seriously affect the performance of your printers. Graphics are not recommended for printing time-critical documents.

3.2.1 Using Boxes, Lines, and Shading

SAPscript provides these text commands for using boxes or frames, lines, and shading in documents:

The BOX command for drawing a box or a horizontal or vertical line.

The POSITION command for specifying the starting point (the upper left corner) of a box or line.

The SIZE command for specifying the width and height of a box.

3.2.2 Supported Printers

You can print boxes, lines, and shading on any page printer that uses one of these SAPscript printer drivers in its device-type definition:

HPL2 Hewlett-Packard LaserJet family and compatibles

POST PostScript-compatible printers

PRES Kyocera printers (Prescribe printer language).

3.2.3 Boxes, Lines, Shading: BOX, POSITION, SIZE

Use the BOX, POSITION, and SIZE commands for drawing boxes, lines, and shading to print particular windows within a form or passages of text within a window in a frame or with shading.

The SAP printer drivers that are based on page-oriented printers (the HP LaserJet driver HPL2, the Postscript driver POST, the Kyocera Prescribe driver PRES) employ these commands when printing. Line printers and page-oriented printers not supported in the standard ignore these commands. You can view the resulting printer output in the SAPscript print preview.

3.2.3.1 BOX Command

Syntax

/: BOX [XPOS] [YPOS] [WIDTH] [HEIGHT] [FRAME] [INTENSITY]

Effect: draws a box of the specified size at the specified position.
Parameters: For each of XPOS, YPOS, WIDTH, HEIGHT, and FRAME, you must specify both a measurement and a unit of measurement. Specify the INTENSITY parameter as a percentage between 0 and 100.

XPOS, YPOS

Upper left corner of the box, relative to the values of the POSITION command.

Default: Values specified in the POSITION command.

The following calculation is performed internally to determine the absolute output position of a box on the page:

X(abs) = XORIGIN + XPOS

Y(abs) = YORIGIN + YPOS

WIDTH

Width of the box. Default: WIDTH value of the SIZE command.

HEIGHT

Height of the box. Default: HEIGHT value of the SIZE command.

FRAME

Thickness of frame.
Default: 0 (no frame).

INTENSITY

Grayscale of box contents as %.

Default: 100 (full black)

Measurements: You must specify decimal numbers as literal values (like ABAP numeric constants) by enclosing them in inverted commas. Use the period as the decimal point character. See also the examples listed below.
Units of measurement: The following units of measurement may be used:

TW (twip)

PT (point)

IN (inch)

MM (millimeter)

CM (centimeter)

LN (line)

CH (character).

The following conversion factors apply:

1 TW = 1/20 PT

1 PT = 1/72 IN

1 IN = 2.54 CM

1 CM = 10 MM

1 CH = height of a character relative to the CPI specification in the form header

1 LN = height of a line relative to the LPI specification in the form header

/: BOX FRAME 10 TW

Draws a frame around the current window with a frame thickness of 10 TW (= 0.5 PT).

/: BOX INTENSITY 10

Fills the window background with shading having a gray scale of 10 %.

/: BOX HEIGHT 0 TW FRAME 10 TW

Draws a horizontal line across the complete top edge of the window.

/: BOX WIDTH 0 TW FRAME 10 TW

Draws a vertical line along the complete height of the left hand edge of the window.

Draws two rectangles and two lines to construct a table of three columns with a highlighted heading section.

3.2.3.2 POSITION Command

Syntax

/: POSITION [XORIGIN] [YORIGIN] [WINDOW] [PAGE]

Effect: Sets the origin for the coordinate system used by the XPOS and YPOS parameters of the BOX command. When a window is first started, the POSITION value is set to refer to the upper left corner of the window (default setting).

Parameters: If a parameter value does not have a leading sign, then its value is interpreted as an absolute value, in other words, as a value that specifies an offset from the upper left corner of the output page. If a parameter value is specified with a leading sign, then the new value of the parameter is calculated relative to the old value. If one of the parameter specifications is missing, then no change is made to this parameter.

XORIGIN, YORIGIN

Origin of the coordinate system.

WINDOW

Sets the values for the left and upper edges to match those of the current window (default setting).

PAGE

Sets the values for the left and upper edges to match those of the current output page (XORIGIN = 0 cm, YORIGIN = 0 cm).

/: POSITION WINDOW

Sets the origin for the coordinate system to the upper left corner of the window.

/: POSITION XORIGIN 2 CM YORIGIN '2.5 CM'

Sets the origin for the coordinate system to a point 2 cm from the left edge and 2.5 cm from the upper edge of the output page.

/: POSITION XORIGIN '-1.5' CM YORIGIN -1 CM

Shifts the origin for the coordinates 1.5 cm to the left and 1 cm up.

3.2.3.3 SIZE Command

Syntax

/: SIZE [WIDTH] [HEIGHT] [WINDOW] [PAGE]

Effect: Sets the values of the WIDTH and HEIGHT parameters used in the BOX command. When a window is first started, the SIZE value is set to the same values as the window itself (default setting).

Parameters: If one of the parameter specifications is missing, then no change is made to the current value of this parameter. If a parameter value does not have a leading sign, then its value is interpreted as an absolute value. If a parameter value is specified with a leading sign, then the new value of the parameter is calculated relative to the old value.

WIDTH, HEIGHT

Dimensions of the rectangle or line.

WINDOW

Sets the values for the width and height to the values of the current window (default setting).

PAGE

Sets the values for the width and height to the values of the current output page.

A frame is added to the current window. The edges of the frame extend beyond the edges of the window itself, so as to avoid obscuring the leading and trailing text characters.

3.2.4 Pre-Setting BOX Position Arguments

You can use the POSITION and SIZE commands to preset some arguments in the BOX command. POSITION presets the start point (upper left corner) of a box or line. SIZE specifies the width and height of a box.

You can use POSITION and SIZE to preset arguments, but you can also set the start point and size arguments of a box or line directly in the BOX command.

By default, if no positioning is specified, the upper left corner of a box or halftone or the top of a line is aligned with current SAPscript window. That is, the upper left corner of the box, halftone, or line starts at the upper left corner of the current window in the active form. By default, the height and width of a box are set to the height and width of the current window.

Use POSITION and SIZE to preset the arguments in a BOX command in the following situations:

The BOX command exceeds the 132-character (1 line in SAPscript) length limitation if you specify all arguments directly in the command. You may exceed this length limit if, for example, you use symbols in a command.

By pre-setting arguments with POSITION and SIZE, you can work around the limitation on the length of a command. You do not need to specify the preset arguments in the BOX command.

You want to use the enhanced capabilities of POSITION for adjusting the starting point of a box or line.

With BOX, you can specify an offset for the starting point only as a whole number (non-negative integer). This command would print a box starting 1 CM to the right and 1 CM down from the left upper corner of a window:

/: BOX XPOS '1' CM YPOS '1' CM

With POSITION; you can adjust the position of a line or box relative to a window much more precisely. In the POSITION command, you can specify positive and negative offsets and use non-integer numbers.

Example: The commands shown below position a box slightly to the left and slightly above a window. This leaves a margin between the edge of the box and the text in the window.

(Note that the box must be enlarged to accommodate the shift. If it is not enlarged, then it will not cover all of the window.)

You can also use POSITION to set the starting point to the upper left corner of the active page format. Example: POSITION PAGE moves the starting point from the active window to the active page format.

You want to use the relative sizing capabilities of SIZE to adjust the size of a box, line, or halftone.

With BOX, you can make only absolute size specifications. BOX HEIGHT, for example, overrides the default height setting to the height of the current window.

With SIZE, you can adjust the size of a box or a line with respect to its previously-set dimensions. The following commands would, for example, draw a frame 1 CM in from the margins of the paper:

3.2.5 Using the Commands in Texts and Forms

Since BOX, POSITION, and SIZE are text commands, you can insert them directly in a text. However, usually you use these commands in forms, where you have better control of how a box or line and the accompanying text fit together. SAPscript does not automatically fill text into a box or otherwise orient text with respect to these graphical elements.

Enter the following line as a command in text in a SAPscript document. The command draws a box of 17.5 CM length, 1 CM high, with 10% shading:

/: BOX WIDTH '17.5' CM HEIGHT '1' CM INTENSITY 10

The left upper corner of the box is located at the left upper corner of the main window defined in the form of the document. The text that you type in is not automatically oriented in accordance with the box. Whether the text fits in the box or not depends on you. If you type in three lines of text, then the bottom line of text is likely to appear below the bottom of the box.

In a form, you can orient both text and graphical elements in the windows that you define. You therefore have much better control of how graphics and text fit together.

3.2.6 Tips and Guidelines

To ensure in forms that boxes, lines, and shading fit correctly with text, follow these guidelines:

In your form design, match graphical elements and windows to each other. By default, a box defined in a window has the dimensions and starting point of the window.

Defining a window for each graphical element that you want to include facilitates using boxes, lines, and shading, since the graphical element and the window have the same dimensions and positioning.

Example: If a window is defined with the dimensions 6 CM high and 8 CM wide, then this statement in the text element of the window paints a 10 halftone with the same dimensions. The shading is oriented on the upper left corner of the window.

/: BOX INTENSITY 10

Use the POSITION command to adjust the position of a box or line relative to a window.

For example, these commands in a form window would allow more room above the first line of text in the window. The box would start 0.2 CM above the top of the window.

In the paragraph formats that you use to fill the table, you would define tabs at the positions shown below. With these tabs, your input would start right-justified in the first, second, and third columns of the table. You must ensure that your input is not too long to fit in the columns defined with the lines:

4 Design Tools

Forms are used for the page layout of SAPscript documents. To be able to format a text for output to the screen or printer, you must assign a form first.

If no form has been assigned to a text, the system automatically assigns the form SYSTEM, which contains minimal definitions for text formatting.

There are two ways of formatting texts using forms:

Use the standard text maintenance to enter and print the text. You can assign any form. You can also enter text via the form, for example, a letter header.

Use an ABAP program to format the text according to an assigned form. The program can either dynamically print individual predefined text modules – text elements – or transfer entire texts to be printed using the form.

Observe these naming conventions for form names:

The name must start with a letter.

The name may contain only letters.

The characters * , & / as well as blanks are not valid.

The name can be up to 16 characters long.

4.1 Form Components

In the alphanumeric Form Painter, a form has the following components:

Header data

Data related to development (created by, development class, and so on) and form information (which elements are used) are both stored in the header data.

Paragraph formats

Paragraph formats are required in forms (as in styles) to format texts. However, they are also used for word processing in forms, for example, to format text elements.

Character formats

You can also use character formats to format texts or paragraphs. Unlike paragraph formats, however, they are used to format text within a paragraph.

Windows

Windows are output areas you position on the individual pages of the form. The system then prints the contents of the windows, the text elements, into these output areas.

Pages

Most forms comprise different pages, for example, one page with the customer address, the subsequent page containing the corresponding customer records. This implies that you must define different output areas (windows) on different pages.

Page windows

A page window is the combination of a window and a page. You specify the dimensions of a window and its position on a page.

4.2 Processing in Overview

Form maintenance offers three processing options:

Create/changeChange a form that already exists or create a new one.

DisplayDisplay a specific form.

CatalogDisplay all available forms.

To create a form,

1. Enter the form name and fill in the header information.

2. Define any paragraph formats and character formats that you need for the form.

3. Define page formats for the form.

4. Define the windows you want to position on the pages.

5. Define text elements in windows. These are the default texts and the texts selected by the program that can be printed in windows.

6. Specify how the windows are to be placed on the pages by defining page windows.

4.2.1 Defining Header Data

The header data of a form consist of Administration data and Basic settings.

The Administration data include Administration information and Language attributes.

In the Administration information group, enter

Form name

Description

Development class

In the Lang. attributes (Language attributes) group, you find

Original language

Current language (language key)

Information on the translation of the form.

Status information about the current form status (active, edited, and so on).

Before entering other header data,

7. Define the paragraph formats of the form.

8. Define the character formats of the form.

9. Return to the header and complete it.

4.2.1.1 Completing the Header Data After Defining the Attributes

1. Choose Goto  Header.

The Change Form Header screen appears.

The Basic data include the groups Set up page and Default values for text formatting.

In the group Set up page, set defaults such as page format and page orientation.

In the group Default values for text formatting, set a default paragraph, default font, and so on.

2. Enter values in accordance with the guidelines. The fields Tab stop, Page format, Orientation, Lines/inch, and Characters/inch are assigned default values by the system.

3. Enter the format of the pages in the header data of the form. This format can be taken from the spool administration table using the transaction SPAD.

The system always uses these values defined in the form header if no other values are specified for the paragraph and character format definition.

To activate the form, you must enter the First page and the Default paragraph as Basic settings.

4.2.1.2 Passing Data to an External Program

In the R/3 system, you can flag a form for external printing. If a form is not explicitly flagged for external printing, the system uses application-dependent settings from Customizing.

To flag a form for external printing

1. Choose Tools  Word processing  Forms.

2. In the header data, choose Attributes  Miscellaneous.

In the lower part of the screen, you can now set a flag for passing data to an external program. The flag in the form then determines whether to print via the Raw Data Interface (RDI) or not. To overrule this setting, use the function module OPEN_FORM (see Raw Data Interface).

4.2.2 Defining Paragraph Formats

Before entering all header data on the Change Form Header screen, you must create the form by defining paragraph and character formats. The system sends a warning if, in the header data, you specify a paragraph or a first page that has not yet been defined.

1. Choose Goto  Paragraphs.

This takes you to the input screen for paragraph formats and their standard attributes.

2. Choose Edit  Create element.

A dialog box appears.

3. Enter the paragraph tag and a short description.

The paragraph tag is created. The system sets line spacing, alignment, and units of measurement.

5. Enter values in the input-enabled fields in accordance with the guidelines.

You can overwrite the default font attributes.

6. Choose Goto  Tabs to specify the tab position.

An input screen appears, where you can define the required tab positions as well as the unit of measurement and the alignment. In the standard version, the alignment is set to LEFT (left-aligned).

7. Choose Attributes  Outline to define the outline.

Additional values are displayed that have been set by the system.

8. Enter values in the input-enabled fields. You can change the values set by the system.

9. Repeat the steps above until all paragraph formats are defined.

4.2.3 Defining Character Formats

Character formats in forms determine how text is formatted within paragraphs. They are a refined form of text layout.

1. Choose Goto  Character strings.

This takes you to the request screen for standard attributes of character strings.

2. Choose Edit  Create element.

A dialog box appears.

3. Enter a character tag and description.

The character tag is created. The system sets all standard attributes to * . You can overwrite this setting.

4. Choose Attributes  Font to define the font attributes for the character format. Font attributes provide a more detailed definition.

5. Enter values in the input-enabled fields.

The fields Bold, Italics, and Underlined are automatically displayed with * . You can overwrite this with your entry.

6. Repeat the definition of character tags and their standard and font attributes until all required character formats have been defined.

7. Save the character formats.

4.2.4 Defining Pages

You must define at least one logical page for every form. Otherwise it is not possible to format texts. To define a page, assign a name and specify attributes.

1. Choose Goto  Pages.

2. Choose Edit  Create element.

3. Enter a page name and a short description in the fields Page and Description.

Input-enabled fields are displayed in the lower screen area.

4. Enter values in accordance with the guidelines for page definition.

You can overwrite the default values set in the fields Mode and Numbering type.

5. Repeat these steps until all pages are defined.

6. Save your entries.

4.2.5 Defining Windows

You must define at least one window for every form. Otherwise it is not possible to format texts. Window definition involves a list of window names and corresponding window types. Units of measurement are not taken into account here.

1. Choose Goto  Windows.

This takes you to the input screen for windows. A main window (MAIN) is displayed automatically. You can define a default paragraph here.

2. Choose Edit  Create element to add new window names and types to the list.

A dialog box appears.

3. Enter a window name and description.

Input-enabled fields are displayed in the lower half of the screen. The field Description receives the value from the dialog box, the value for the field Window type is set by the system.

By default, the system sets VAR as the window type for windows with variable contents. If you prefer another window type, simply overwrite this value.

4. Make your entries or changes.

You can define one standard paragraph per window in the field Default paragraph.

5. Repeat these steps for each of your windows.

6. Save your entries.

4.2.6 Using Text Elements in Page Windows

You can define and edit text elements in windows as well as in page windows. In both cases, the text elements are assigned to the active window. You can create several text elements in a module.

4.2.7 Defining Page Windows

To define a page window, allocate a logical window to a physical page and specify the position and size of the window (the window is logical, because you define it only once in the entire form by specifying name and type, but not its usage). However, the size is limited by the page format selected in the header data.

1. Choose Goto  Page windows.

2. Choose Edit  Create element.

A list of defined logical windows appears.

3. Select the desired window from the list.

4. Enter valid values in the fields displayed in the lower half of the screen. The unit of measurement is set by the system.

5. Specify the position of the selected window on the page and the dimensions of the window.

6. To define page windows for the next page, you must first select the next page. Choose Goto  Pages and select the next page. Then choose Goto  Page windows and repeat the steps above.

7. Save your form.

To delete a selected element, choose Edit  Delete.

4.2.7.1 Filling Page Windows with Text

When defining page windows, you can request multiple columns. Define an area on a page and specify the position of the main windows in this area, as described in Defining Main Windows in Page Windows.

To fill a page window with text, you can also use text elements as described in Using Text Elements in Page Windows.

4.2.8 Using Text Elements in Page Windows

You can define and edit text elements in windows as well as in page windows. In both cases, the text elements are assigned to the active window. You can create several text elements in a module.

4.2.9 Defining Main Windows in Page Windows

Main windows in page windows allow you to format text in multiple columns. Define an area in the page window, in which to position the main windows.

1. Create a page window and assign it to a page.

2. Choose Edit  Main windows.

A dialog box appears.

3. Enter values in the fields Area width and Area height in accordance with the input guidelines for main windows.

4. Enter values in the fields Spacing and Number in the Horizontal group if you want to use multiple columns. You can ignore the fields in the Vertical group.

5. Determine how many columns and line areas are required for label printing. Then enter the corresponding values in the fields in the Horizontal and Vertical groups.

The value in the field Left margin varies from main window to main window if multiple columns are used. The following applies:

Left margin of current column

+ Window width

+ Horizontal spacing

= Left margin of next column

In label printing, the field Upper margin also varies from main window to main window:

Upper margin of current main window

+ Window height

+ Vertical spacing

= Upper margin of next main window

6. Enter a value in the field Start position.

This is a counter. Enter a starting value which is equal to or greater than 1.

The main windows are added to the list.

7. Save your form.

4.3 Test-Printing a Form

You can test a form without having to call the print program that uses it. Choose Utilities  Test print. SAPscript presents the print selection screen so that you can pick the printer type for which the test print should be formatted.

The Test print function

Displays or prints all pages and text elements that are defined in the form.

Replaces system, standard, and text symbols with their current values. Program symbols are filled with a test value, the character X.

If you test print from the Form: Request screen, SAPscript uses the active version of a form for the test print. If you are currently editing a form, then SAPscript uses this edit version of the form for the test print.

Under certain conditions, texts may not be printed in Test print: This is the case, for example, when the name of a text in an INCLUDE statement is defined with a program symbol.

5 Releasing Forms

Forms must be released for the end user. Otherwise, they are not displayed to the user.

Choose Form  Check

To ensure that forms do not contain any errors, check whether all the entries have been made and whether all entries correspond to the input conventions. The status of the check is displayed in the line; the system informs you whether the check routine found any errors.

If the check routine was completed without any errors, you only need to activate your form.

Choose Form  Activate

The system sends a message stating whether activation was successful.

If you attempt to activate your form despite the fact that an error was found during the check or a check was not run, the activation run is terminated. The form is not accessible to the end user.

Forms can be processed after activation, whether this involves changes, translations, or the deletion of an unnecessary form.

To delete a form, choose Form  Delete. The system asks you whether you really want to delete your form in all languages. After deletion, you return to the request screen. Your processing status is displayed in the OK line.

6 SAPscript Control Commands

The functionality of the SAPscript editor is made available through a set of commands. These commands give you full editing control over your text. They are executed immediately when called.

There is, however, another kind of SAPscript command, namely the control commands. The purpose of these is to allow control of the output formatting. These commands are not interpreted by the SAPscript editor, but are passed through to the SAPscript Composer for processing. The Composer is the program that converts text from the form displayed in the editor to the form used for printing. This includes, for example, line and page formatting, the replacement of symbols with their current values and the formatting of text according to the paragraph and character formats specified.

6.1 Syntax of Control Commands

SAPscript control commands are entered and edited in the text editor in the same way as a normal line of text. They do, however, differ from normal lines of text:

Enter the paragraph format /: in the format column to identify a control command.

Enter the command itself in the text line. You will notice that all key words and other parts of the specification not given as literal values enclosed in inverted commas are automatically converted to capital letters.

Make sure that a control command, together with any parameters it requires, does not occupy more than a single line.

Enter only one control command in each line.

Note that the editor formatting has no effect on lines containing control commands.

If a control command is unknown or it contains syntax errors, the line containing it is treated as a comment line. It is neither interpreted nor printed.

6.2 Explicit Page Break: NEW-PAGE

SAPscript automatically inserts a page break when the main window of a page (MAIN) is full. You can use the NEW-PAGE command to force a page break in the text at any point you want one. The text following this command then appears on a new page. The page break is always performed (it is an unconditional page break).

The NEW-PAGE command completes the current page. This means that all the windows that are still on the page are printed immediately. If you use the NEW-PAGE command without parameters, the page defined in the current form as the next page will be taken next. If, however, your form contains a number of different pages, then you can specify any one of these as the next page to be used.

Syntax:

/: NEW-PAGE [page_name]

/: NEW-PAGE

The current page will be completed and the text in the following lines will be written to the page specified in the form.

/: NEW-PAGE S1

As above, except that the page S1 will be taken as the next page.

If, in a NEW-PAGE command, you specify a page not contained in the form, the specification is ignored.

Take care that there are no blank lines immediately before a NEW-PAGE command. If an implicit page break occurs within the blank lines, an unexpected blank page may be printed.

6.3 Preventing Page Breaks: PROTECT

You can specify, either in the style or in the form, that a particular paragraph should not be split in two by a page break. If this page protect attribute is set, then the complete paragraph is always printed on one page. This property applies only to that particular paragraph.

This attribute is not intended to be used to protect all paragraphs against a page break. The point is that a page break is by its very nature a dynamic event and the exact point at which it occurs depends on the current state (length and contents) of the preceding text. It is also possible that you may want to protect only certain parts of a paragraph against a page break. One way to achieve this is to use the NEW-PAGE command immediately before the text concerned starts. Explicitly beginning a new page at this point should ensure that a further page break does not occur within the text. However, this technique is not change-friendly. For example, you format your text with the help of the NEW-PAGE command so that no page breaks occur where they should not. At a later time, you insert or delete some lines. These changes cause all the subsequent text to be moved relative to the printed page, and you must check each NEW-PAGE command you previously inserted to see if it is still in the correct place.

To allow you to define the areas to be protected against a page break on an individual basis, SAPscript provides the PROTECT.. ENDPROTECT command pair. If you enclose the text to be protected in these commands, then SAPscript will ensure that each line of this text is printed together on the same page. If the complete text fits in the space remaining on the current page, then it is printed on this page just as it would be if no PROTECT command had been used. If, however, the remaining space is not sufficient for the text, then the PROTECT command has the same effect as a NEW-PAGE command and text is printed on a new page.

Thus the PROTECT/ENDPROTECT commands may be regarded as a kind of conditional NEW-PAGE command, the condition being whether or not the lines enclosed between the two commands fit in the space remaining in the current main window.

Syntax:

/: PROTECT
:
:
/: ENDPROTECT

The text lines to be protected are enclosed between the two commands.

An ENDPROTECT command without a preceding PROTECT command has no effect.

If the terminating ENDPROTECT is missing, SAPscript assumes it at the end of the text.

PROTECT.. ENDPROTECT command pairs cannot be nested. If a second PROTECT command occurs before the first one has been terminated by an ENDPROTECT, it is ignored.

If the text enclosed by a PROTECT.. ENDPROTECT pair is itself too long for a single page, then a page break is generated immediately before the text and the text is printed in the normal way. It is then unavoidable that a page break will occur at some point within the text.

6.4 Next Main Window: NEW-WINDOW

Each page can consist of up to 99 main windows. Each main window is assigned a consecutive identifying number (0..98), and the windows are filled in this order. This feature enables SAPscript to print labels and to output multi-column text. When one main window fills up, the next main window on that page is taken, if there is a next one. A page break is inserted after the last main window.

You can use the NEW-WINDOW command to call the next main window explicitly, even if the current main window is not yet full. If you are in the last main window of the page, the command has the same effect as the NEW-PAGE command.

Syntax:

/: NEW-WINDOW

6.5 Assigning a Value to a Text Symbol: DEFINE

Text symbols acquire their values as a result of explicit assignment. To interactively assign text symbols, in the text editor choose Include  Symbols  Text. This method is available for all text symbols belonging to a text module as well as those of the associated form.

Values defined in this way are lost when the transaction is left. If you want to print the text module again, then you must enter the symbol values again. The purpose of the DEFINE command is to provide a means of making this value assignment a permanent part of the text, so that the values are available again when the text module is called again. This command can also be used to re-assign a new value to a text symbol half-way through the text.

Syntax:

/: DEFINE &symbol_name& = 'value'

/: DEFINE &subject& = 'Your letter of 7/3/95'

The value assigned can have a maximal length of 60 characters. It may itself contain other symbols. A symbol contained within the value assigned to another symbol is not replaced with its own value at the point at which the DEFINE command is executed. Rather, this replacement is made when the symbol defined in the DEFINE command is called in the text.

&symbol2& -> SAPscript
If, however, the DEFINE command is written using the ':=' character rather than the '=' character, then any symbol contained within the value being assigned is replaced immediately with its current value. The assignment to the target symbol is made only after all symbols in the value string are replaced with their values. The total length of the value string may not exceed 80 characters. The target symbol must be a text symbol, as before.

6.6 Formatting Date Fields: SET DATE MASK

To define the formatting of date fields, use the SET DATE MASK control command. Executing this command causes all subsequent date fields to be printed using the specified format.

Syntax:

/: SET DATE MASK = 'date_mask'

In the date mask, you can use the following codes:

DD: day (two digits)

DDD: day name - abbreviated

DDDD: day name - written out in full

MM: month (two digits)

MMM: month name - abbreviated

MMMM: month name - written out in full

YY: year (two digits)

YYYY: year (four digits)

LD: day (formatted as for the L option)

LM: month (formatted as for the L option)

LY: year (formatted as for the L option)

All other characters found in a date mask are interpreted as simple text and are copied straight into the output.

Assuming the current system date is March 1st, 1997.

/: SET DATE MASK = 'Foster City, MM/DD/YY'

&DATE& -> Foster City, 03/01/97

/: SET DATE MASK = 'MMMM DD, YYYY'

&DATE& -> March 01, 1997
The date mask may be reset to the default setting by using an empty string:

/: SET DATE MASK = ' '

The abbreviated and full forms of the names of the days and months are stored in the language dependent TTDTG table under the following keys:

%%SAPSCRIPT_DDD_dd: abbreviated day name

%%SAPSCRIPT_DDDD_dd: full form of day name

%%SAPSCRIPT_MMM_mm: abbreviated month name

%%SAPSCRIPT_MMMM_mm: full form of month name

dd: day number 01 = Monday,..., 07 = Sunday

mm: month number 01 = January,..., 12 = December

6.7 Formatting Time Fields: SET TIME MASK

To format time fields to your needs, use the SET TIME MASK control command. Executing this command causes all subsequent time fields to be printed using the specified format.

Syntax:

/: SET TIME MASK = 'time_mask'

In the time mask, you can use the following codes:

HH hours (two digits)

MM minutes (two digits)

SS seconds (two digits)

All other characters found in a time mask are interpreted as simple text and are copied straight into the output.

Assuming the current time is 10:08:12,

/: SET TIME MASK = 'HH:MM'

&TIME& -> 10:08

/: SET TIME MASK = 'HH hours MM minutes'

&TIME& -> 10 hours 08 minutes

The time mask may be reset to the default setting by using an empty string:

/: SET TIME MASK = ' '

6.8 Country-Dependent Formatting: SET COUNTRY

The formatting for certain field types depends on the country settings. These field types include, for example, date fields and number fields that include either a decimal point or the ‘thousands’ separator character. The formatting options defined in the user master record are usually the ones used here. To choose a formatting option other than the one specified in the user master record, use the SET COUNTRY control command. The country-dependent formatting options are stored in the T005X table.

Syntax:

/: SET COUNTRY country_key

You can enter the country key either as a literal value enclosed in quotes or as a symbol.

/: SET COUNTRY 'CAN'
/: SET COUNTRY &country_key&

Use a blank country name to revert to the setting found in the user master record:

/: SET COUNTRY ' '

This SAPscript command actually calls the corresponding ABAP command internally. This guarantees the effect of the SAPscript command to be identical with that of the ABAP command.

If the formatting turns out not to be as required, then you should check the settings in table T005X.

6.9 Position of the Leading Sign: SET SIGN

The usual convention in business applications is to show the leading sign to the right of the figure to which it applies. However, it is sometimes necessary to show the leading sign to the left of the figure. To set the sign explicitly, use the SET SIGN control command. Executing this command affects the formatting of all subsequent program symbols that possess a leading sign.

Syntax:

/: SET SIGN LEFT

The leading sign appears to the left of the number.

/: SET SIGN RIGHT

The leading sign appears to the right of the number.

6.10 Initializing Numbered Paragraphs: RESET

To reset the numbering of an outline paragraph to its initial value, use the RESET control command. If you do not use the RESET command, then the numbering of all outline paragraphs in a text is continuous. If you specify the name of an outline paragraph in the RESET command, then its paragraph numbering and that of subordinate paragraphs is reinitialized.

Syntax:

/: RESET paragraph_format

The paragraph format specifies the outline paragraph to be reset.

Assume that the paragraph N1 is defined in the style you are using. This kind of paragraph is intended for enumerated lists and causes a sequential number to be printed.

* Proceed as follows if you want to work with the SAP R/3 system:
N1 Ensure that you have a PC
N1 Switch the PC on
N1 Click on the SAP icon using the mouse.
* You will then enter the SAP logon screen. In order to log on here, you must carry out the following actions:
/: RESET N1
N1 Enter your user name
N1 Enter your password
N1 Select the application you want to use

This text specification would be output as follows:

Proceed as follows if you want to work with the SAP R/3 system:
1. Ensure that you have a PC
2. Switch the PC on
3. Click on the SAP icon using the mouse.
You will then enter the SAP logon screen. In order to log on here, you must carry out the following actions:
1. Enter your user name
2. Enter your password
3. Select the application you want to use

If there is no RESET command between the two sections, then the two lists would be numbered in a single sequence:

Proceed as follows if you want to work with the SAP R/3 system:
1. Ensure that you have a PC
2. Switch the PC on
3. Click on the SAP icon using the mouse.
You will then enter the SAP logon screen. In order to log on here, you must carry out the following actions:
4. Enter your user name
5. Enter your password
6. Select the application you want to use

6.11 Including Other Texts: INCLUDE

To include the contents of another text into the current text, use the INCLUDE control command. SAPscript still treats the text to be included as a separate text. The text is copied over only at the point at which the output is formatted.

Thus the use of the INCLUDE command always ensures that the most current version of a text is included into the output, since the text is not read and inserted until the output is formatted.

You must specify the name of the text to be inserted. It can be up to 70 characters long. If the name of the text contains spaces, then you must enclose it in quotes as a literal value. You can, alternatively, specify the name via a symbol. All remaining parameters in the INCLUDE command are optional. If an optional parameter is not specified, then SAPscript uses default values as applicable for the calling environment.

/: INCLUDE MYTEXT

The text MYTEXT is included in the language of the calling text.

/: INCLUDE MYTEXT LANGUAGE 'E' PARAGRAPH 'A1'

The text with the name MYTEXT and the language E is included, regardless of the language of the calling text. The paragraph format A1 will be used as the standard paragraph type for this call.

Optional parameters:

LANGUAGEIf this parameter is not specified, then the language of the calling text or the form language are used for the text to be included. If the language is specified, then the text will be fetched in this language, regardless of the language of the calling text.

PARAGRAPHThe text to be included is formatted using the style allocated. The PARAGRAPH parameter can be used to redefine the standard paragraph for this style for the current call. All *-paragraphs in the included text will then be formatted using the paragraph specified here.

NEW-PARAGRAPHThe first line of the text to be included will be given this format indicator, as long as it is not a comment or command line. If the optional PARAGRAPH parameter (see above) is not specified, then all *-paragraphs of the included text will also be formatted using the paragraph specified in the NEW-PARAGRAPH command.

OBJECT In order to completely specify a text, information about the text object is also required. There are a number of restrictions and other rules that depend on the object type of the calling text:

Any kind of text can be included in a form. If no object is specified, then TEXT will be used (standard texts).

In the case of a document text (DOKU object), you can include only document texts. This object type is also assumed if no object is specified in this environment.

Only hypertexts and document texts can be included in a hypertext (DSYS object). If the OBJECT parameter is missing, then DSYS is used as the default value.

In the other kinds of text you can include only standard texts (TEXT object), document texts or hypertexts. If there is no specification, then the default object is TEXT.

IDThe text ID is a part of the text key, which permits further text objects within a given object. If no ID is specified, then the default include ID is used from the TTXID table for the calling text. If there is no entry in this table, then the text ID of the calling text is used.The following consistency check is applied both to the ID and the object:

All text IDs are allowed in a form.

In document texts, only document texts may be included that have text IDs TX (general texts) or UO (authorization objects) and also other document texts with the same text ID as the calling document text.

In DSYS texts, all DSYS texts can be included, whatever ID they have. Document texts to be included must have one of the IDs TX or UO.

Into the other texts, standard texts with any allowable text ID, DSYS texts with all IDs, and document texts with the IDs TX and UO can be included.

The INCLUDE command returns a status code in the SAPSCRIPT-SUBRC symbol:

0: the text include was successful.

1: the command could not be executed because it contained syntax errors.

2: the rules governing the text to be included were not followed (see above).

This value cannot occur if the command is used in a SAPscript form.

4: the specified text could not be found.

6.12 Changing the Style: STYLE

The STYLE control command allows you to change the style within a text. The new style is in force until another STYLE command is issued. If you specify * as the name of the style, then the system reverts to the original style.

Syntax:

/: STYLE style [DOMINANT]
/: STYLE *

A style set with this command has no effect in a text included with INCLUDE. The system takes the paragraph and character formats from the calling text. To use the style set with STYLE in the INCLUDE text as well, you must add DOMINANT to the command.

If the INCLUDE text has a style assigned to it, in both cases, the system always takes the paragraph and character formats from the directly assigned style.

6.13 Formatting Addresses: ADDRESS

The ADDRESS - ENDADDRESS control command formats an address according to the postal convention of the recipient country defined in the COUNTRY parameter. The reference fields are described in the structures ADRS1, ADRS2, or ADRS3, depending on the type of address. Either direct values or symbols may be assigned to the parameters.

The parameter values contain both formatting and address information. The address data are formatted for output according to the data in the following parameters:

TYPE

FROMCOUNTRY

COUNTRY

LANGUAGE

PRIORITY

DELIVERY

LINES

For more information, see the documentation for the SAP function module ADDRESS_INTO_PRINTFORM.

If DELIVERY is not specified and if a POBOX is specified, then the POBOX is used in an address instead of a STREET.

6.13.1 Parameters

DELIVERY Means that the address should be formatted as a complete delivery address, using the street name and number rather than the P.O. Box.

TYPESpecifies the type of address.

The following types are possible:
1. Normal address (ADRS1). This is the address of a company or organization. It corresponds to the address structure that is expected in most SAP applications.
2. Private or personal address (ADRS2). This is the address of a natural person, a private or home address.
3. Company addressDienstadresse (ADRS3) with contact person. This is the address of a colleague or contact within a company or organization. The company name should be specified in the TITLE and NAME fields; the ATTN: contact person should be named in PERSON and TITLE.Should you enter another address type or leave the field blank, then type 1 is used for formatting.

PARAGRAPH Specifies the paragraph format to be used for outputting the address. If this parameter is not given, the address will be output using the default paragraph format.

PRIORITY Specifies which of the address lines may be omitted should this be necessary. Any combination of the following codes may be specified. The order in which you list the codes determines the order in which address lines are left out.

The codes are as follows:
A Title
P Mandatory empty line
4 Name4
3 Name3
R Region
T Neighborhood, administrative section of a city (CITY2)l
D Department
L Country name
C Post code or zip code
2 Name2
B P.O. Box (Japan only)
S Street name and number or P.O. Box, depending upon DELIVERY parameter
N Name and form of address of natural person (PERSON and TITLE)
I Location information in LOCATION
O City

LINES Specifies how many lines may be used for formatting the address. If there are too few lines available to allow all the address data to be formatted, then the data specified in the PRIORITY parameter are omitted. If there is no LINES parameter and if this command is in a form window of a type other than MAIN, then the number of lines available for formatting the address are automatically calculated based on the current output position and the size of the window.

TITLE Title or form of address. Used only with addresses of types 1 and 3.

NAME Up to four names may be given, separated by commas. Used only with addresses of types 1 and 3.

PERSONName of the addressee. Used only for addresses of type 2 (private or personal address) or type 3 (company contact address). In type 3 addresses, use PERSON for the name of your contact person: ‘Attn: Mr. Jeffries’. The name fields should be used for the company address.

PERSONNUMBERPersonal number. Can be used only for address types 2 or 3 (private or personal address).

TITLE (with PERSON)Title of the addressee. Can be used only for address types 2 or type 3 (private or personal address).

DEPARTMENTDepartment of the addressee. Can be used only for address type 3 (company address).

STREET Street name.

HOUSE House number for the corresponding street.

LOCATIONAdditional location information, such as the building, "Upstairs Apartment" and so on. Appears on its own line in the address.

POBOX P. O. Box

CODE The post code / zip code of the P. O. Box if this differs from the post code / zip code of the recipient.

CITYThe city in which the destination P.O. Box is located if this differs from the city of the recipient.

POSTCODEPost code / zip code of the recipient.

CITY Addressee’s city. city1 is expected to be the city; city2 is the neighborhood or administrative section, if required.

NO_UPPERCASE_FOR_CITYDefault = NO_UPPERCASE_FOR_CITY ‘ ‘ Usually, the system prints the city and country names of foreign addresses in uppercase ( NO_UPPERCASE_FOR_CITY ‘ ‘ ). You can use this parameter to force the system to output city and country name unchanged (uppercase/lowercase). ( NO_UPPERCASE_FOR_CITY ‘X’ )

REGION This allows an administrative region, county, province, or state etc. to be specified.

COUNTRY Specifies the recipient country, i.e. the country according to whose postal conventions the address is to be formatted.

COUNTRY_IN_REC_LANGThis flag tells the system to use the recipient language for the country name.( COUNTRY_IN_REC_LANG ‘X‘  Default: Recipient language is not used: COUNTRY_IN_REC_LANG ‘ ‘ )

LANG_FOR_COUNTRYDefault = SpaceUse this parameter to explicitly set the language in which to print the country name of a foreign address. By default, the system uses the language of the sending country.

LANGUAGELanguage code of the language of the recipient country, if it differs from that of the recipient COUNTRY. Example: addresses in Switzerland. Standard SAP language codes are used; you can display these in the initial SAPscript text processing screen or in table T002.

FROMCOUNTRY Specifies the language to be used for formatting the name of the recipient country. For most European countries, the recipient country is specified by placing the international car registration letters in front of the post code and separating them from the post code with a hyphen. You must always specify the sender country.

ADDRESSNUMBERThe number is used to index a central address file, from which the desired address is read instead of using the set of the above fields. You can find more information on this facility in the documentation for the function module ADDRESS_INTO_PRINTFORM.

You use this one parameter instead of the set of parameters described before.

If the DELIVERY parameter is specified on the ADDRESS command, then the street name and number will appear in the address in place of the P. O. Box number.

Firma
Schneider & Co
Finanzberatung
Kapitalgasse 33
68309 Mannheim

SAPscript makes an internal call to the ADDRESS_INTO_PRINTFORM function module for formatting the address. If the result is not as expected, you should check the settings for this function module (see the function module documentation).

Setting a Header Text in the Main Window: TOP
You can use the TOP.. ENDTOP control command to specify lines of text that you want to print always at the top of the main window. These text lines are also known as header texts. For example, you would use header texts in the case of a very long table covering several pages of output to ensure that the table heading information were repeated at the start of each new page of output.
Syntax:

/: TOP
:
:
/: ENDTOP

The lines of text enclosed between the two control commands will be output from now on at the start of the main window.

An existing header text can be disabled by using the TOP.. ENDTOP command pair without enclosing any text lines between the two command lines:

/: TOP
/: ENDTOP

Subsequent pages will contain no header text.

If the main window already contains some output then a newly specified header text takes effect on the next page only.

The same applies to the deletion of a header text. If a header text has already been output on the current page then it cannot be retracted.

Header texts should not be employed in texts that are printed from applications programs, such as reminder texts, order texts. These applications programs can also work with header texts via the form interface, which may lead to unexpected results.

6.14 Setting a Footer Text in the Main Window: BOTTOM

You can specify footer texts for the main window in a similar way to header texts. Footer texts are always printed at the bottom of the window.

Syntax:

/: BOTTOM
:
:
/: ENDBOTTOM

The lines of text enclosed between the two control commands will be output from now on at the bottom of the main window.

An existing footer text can be disabled by using the BOTTOM.. ENDBOTTOM command pair without enclosing any text lines between the two command lines:

/: BOTTOM
/: ENDBOTTOM

This and subsequent pages will contain no footer text.

Assuming there is still sufficient space in the main window, a newly specified footer text will also be printed on the current page.

Footer texts should not be employed in texts that are printed from applications programs, such as reminder texts, order texts. These applications programs can also work with footer texts via the form interface, which may lead to unexpected results.

6.15 Conditional Text: IF

You can use the IF control command to specify that text lines should be printed only when certain conditions are met. If the logical expression contained within the IF command is true, then the text lines enclosed by the IF... ENDIF command pair are printed. Otherwise they are ignored.

Syntax:

/: IF condition
:
:
/: ENDIF

The logical expression can use the following comparison operators:

= EQ equal to
< LT less than
> GT greater than
<= LE less than or equal to
>= GE greater than or equal to
<> NE not equal to

The following logical operators can be used to combine conditions:

NOT

AND

OR

Evaluation of both the individual logical expressions and of the combinations of expressions is performed strictly from left to right. There are no precedence rules. Bracketed expressions are not supported.

The comparison is always performed on literal values, that is, the symbols are formatted as character strings before they are compared. This is particularly significant in the case of program symbols, because the formatting of these may depend on various parameters. For example, the formatted form of a currency field employs a variable number of decimal places and a variable ‘decimal point’ symbol (a period or a comma) depending on the applicable currency key.

You can extend the IF command with the ELSE command to allow text lines to be specified that you want to print in case the condition is false. If the condition is true, the text lines enclosed by the IF and ELSE commands are formatted; otherwise the text lines enclosed by the ELSE and ENDIF commands are formatted.

Syntax:

/: IF condition
:
/: ELSE
:
/: ENDIF

The ELSEIF command allows you to specify multiple cases.

Syntax:

/: IF condition
:
/: ELSEIF condition
:
/: ELSE
:
/: ENDIF

You can use any number of ELSEIF commands within one compound IF.. ENDIF control command. The use of an ELSE command is then optional.

You must not extend a condition over more than one line. Both the IF or ELSEIF command and the attached condition must be completely contained within a single line.

You can nest IF commands.

You must terminate an IF command with an ENDIF command. If you forget this, there will be no more output following the IF command if the condition is false.

If a syntax error occurs in the interpretation of this command, then the command is not executed. This may have an unexpected effect on the subsequent text output. For example, if the IF statement is incorrect, then all following ELSEIF and ELSE commands will be ignored, since the opening IF command is ‘missing’. This will cause all the text lines attached to the ELSEIF and ELSE commands to be printed.

6.16 Finding a Match: CASE

The CASE command covers a special case of the multiple case IF command. Rather than allowing an arbitrary condition to be tested in each of the individual cases (as in the general multiple case IF command), the CASE command allows a given symbol to be tested against specific values until a matching value is found.

The symbol in the CASE line is formatted. If its value is found in one of the WHEN lines, then the text lines following this WHEN line are printed. If no matching value is found then the text lines enclosed by the WHEN OTHERS line and the ENDCASE command are printed. The WHEN OTHERS section is optional.

As with the IF command, the comparison is always performed on literal values.

A CASE command must be terminated by an ENDCASE command.

The WHEN OTHERS section is optional.

6.17 Calling ABAP Subroutines: PERFORM

You can use the PERFORM command to call an ABAP subroutine (form) from any program, subject to the normal ABAP runtime authorization checking. You can use such calls to subroutines for carrying out calculations, for obtaining data from the database that is needed at display or print time, for formatting data, and so on.

PERFORM commands, like all control commands, are executed when a document is formatted for display or printing. Communication between a subroutine that you call and the document is by way of symbols whose values are set in the subroutine.

The values of the SAPscript symbols passed with /: USING... are now stored in the internal table IN_TAB . Note that the system passes the values as character string to the subroutine, since the field Feld VALUE in structure ITCSY has the domain TDSYMVALUE (CHAR 80). See the example below on how to access the variables.

The internal table OUT_TAB contains names and values of the CHANGING parameters in the PERFORM statement. These parameters are local text symbols, that is, character fields. See the example below on how to return the variables within the subroutine.

From within a SAPscript form, a subroutine GET_BARCODE in the ABAP program QCJPERFO is called. Then the simple barcode contained there (‘First page’, ‘Next page’, ‘Last page’) is printed as local variable symbol.

6.18 Inserting Print Controls: PRINT-CONTROL

You can use this command to call certain printer functions from a SAPscript text. Although you cannot enter control characters for the printer directly in your text, you can define a print control via the spool maintenance transaction SPAD that contains the printer commands you want. You can then call a print control using the PRINT-CONTROL SAPscript command.

Syntax:

/: PRINT-CONTROL name

Specify the name of the print control either with or without inverted commas.

The print control printed via PRINT-CONTROL should always be a print control created in the customer name area (Zxxx) for the device type used. Use no Sxxx print controls, since their contents may be changed by SAP at any time with a release or driver modification. To modify SAP device types, refer to Note 3166.

The printer commands in the print control must never effect the current printer settings, since the SAPscript printer driver has no information on any changes triggered by a print control, which would have to be undone by commands of the driver itself. The printer driver assumes that the print control has no effect on any texts or graphics printed afterwards.

Never use PRINT-CONTROL to control print attributes covered by the SAPscript driver. To change such print attributes, use the usual method of defining form and style and the device type accordingly.

The contents of the print control called are transparent to SAPscript. SAPscript cannot check whether the printer commands contained in the control are correct. Therefore, if you experience problems when printing a text containing these commands, you should first try to print the text without the print controls. Then, reintroduce the PRINT-CONTROL commands one by one until the command causing the problem is identified.

You should ensure that the printer control sequences you define leave the printer afterwards in a well-defined state. SAPscript assumes that after completing each text output certain settings (for example, font, current page) are still valid for subsequent printing. If your printer commands change these settings without resetting them again afterwards, the results may be unpredictable.

After executing a PRINT-CONTROL command, SAPscript inserts a space character at the start of the next text line. If you do not want this, you should give this text line the '=' paragraph format.

6.19 Boxes, Lines, Shading: BOX, POSITION, SIZE

Use the BOX, POSITION, and SIZE commands for drawing boxes, lines, and shading to print particular windows within a form or passages of text within a window in a frame or with shading.

The SAP printer drivers that are based on page-oriented printers (the HP LaserJet driver HPL2, the Postscript driver POST, the Kyocera Prescribe driver PRES) employ these commands when printing. Line printers and page-oriented printers not supported in the standard ignore these commands. You can view the resulting printer output in the SAPscript print preview.

Parameters: For each of XPOS, YPOS, WIDTH, HEIGHT, and FRAME, you must specify both a measurement and a unit of measurement. Specify the INTENSITY parameter as a percentage between 0 and 100.

XPOS, YPOS

Upper left corner of the box, relative to the values of the POSITION command.

Default: Values specified in the POSITION command.

The following calculation is performed internally to determine the absolute output position of a box on the page:

X(abs) = XORIGIN + XPOS

Y(abs) = YORIGIN + YPOS

WIDTH

Width of the box. Default: WIDTH value of the SIZE command.

HEIGHT

Height of the box. Default: HEIGHT value of the SIZE command.

FRAME

Thickness of frame.

Default: 0 (no frame).

INTENSITY

Grayscale of box contents as %.

Default: 100 (full black)

Measurements: You must specify decimal numbers as literal values (like ABAP numeric constants) by enclosing them in inverted commas. Use the period as the decimal point character. See also the examples listed below.

Units of measurement: The following units of measurement may be used:

TW (twip)

PT (point)

IN (inch)

MM (millimeter)

CM (centimeter)

LN (line)

CH (character).

The following conversion factors apply:

1 TW = 1/20 PT

1 PT = 1/72 IN

1 IN = 2.54 CM

1 CM = 10 MM

1 CH = height of a character relative to the CPI specification in the form header

1 LN = height of a line relative to the LPI specification in the form header

/: BOX FRAME 10 TW

Draws a frame around the current window with a frame thickness of 10 TW (= 0.5 PT).

/: BOX INTENSITY 10

Fills the window background with shading having a gray scale of 10 %.

/: BOX HEIGHT 0 TW FRAME 10 TW

Draws a horizontal line across the complete top edge of the window.

/: BOX WIDTH 0 TW FRAME 10 TW

Draws a vertical line along the complete height of the left hand edge of the window.

Draws two rectangles and two lines to construct a table of three columns with a highlighted heading section.

6.19.2 POSITION Command

Syntax

/: POSITION [XORIGIN] [YORIGIN] [WINDOW] [PAGE]

Effect: Sets the origin for the coordinate system used by the XPOS and YPOS parameters of the BOX command. When a window is first started, the POSITION value is set to refer to the upper left corner of the window (default setting).

Parameters: If a parameter value does not have a leading sign, then its value is interpreted as an absolute value, in other words, as a value that specifies an offset from the upper left corner of the output page. If a parameter value is specified with a leading sign, then the new value of the parameter is calculated relative to the old value. If one of the parameter specifications is missing, then no change is made to this parameter.

XORIGIN, YORIGIN

Origin of the coordinate system.

WINDOW

Sets the values for the left and upper edges to match those of the current window (default setting).

PAGE

Sets the values for the left and upper edges to match those of the current output page (XORIGIN = 0 cm, YORIGIN = 0 cm).

/: POSITION WINDOW

Sets the origin for the coordinate system to the upper left corner of the window.

/: POSITION XORIGIN 2 CM YORIGIN '2.5 CM'

Sets the origin for the coordinate system to a point 2 cm from the left edge and 2.5 cm from the upper edge of the output page.

/: POSITION XORIGIN '-1.5' CM YORIGIN -1 CM

Shifts the origin for the coordinates 1.5 cm to the left and 1 cm up.

6.19.3 SIZE Command

Syntax

/: SIZE [WIDTH] [HEIGHT] [WINDOW] [PAGE]

Effect: Sets the values of the WIDTH and HEIGHT parameters used in the BOX command. When a window is first started, the SIZE value is set to the same values as the window itself (default setting).

Parameters: If one of the parameter specifications is missing, then no change is made to the current value of this parameter. If a parameter value does not have a leading sign, then its value is interpreted as an absolute value. If a parameter value is specified with a leading sign, then the new value of the parameter is calculated relative to the old value.

WIDTH, HEIGHT

Dimensions of the rectangle or line.

WINDOW

Sets the values for the width and height to the values of the current window (default setting).

PAGE

Sets the values for the width and height to the values of the current output page.

A frame is added to the current window. The edges of the frame extend beyond the edges of the window itself, so as to avoid obscuring the leading and trailing text characters.

6.20 Hexadecimal Data: HEX, ENDHEX

Use this command to send printer commands in a printer language directly to a printer that supports that language. SAPscript does not interpret the data enclosed by the HEX and ENDHEX command pair, but inserts it unchanged into the output stream. This technique allows objects with a pixel-oriented format (for example, graphics) to be printed as part of a SAPscript text. The HEX and ENDHEX command pair enclose the printer commands and data as hexadecimal text, so that the printer formatting routines interpret each successive pair of characters as a single hexadecimal value in the range of 0 to 255. The characters 0 to 9 and A to F for representing the values 10 to 15 are valid hexadecimal characters. The text may also include comment lines (these begin with /* in the format column), which will not be interpreted as hexadecimal data but are simply passed over by the formatting routines.

Syntax:

/: HEX [TYPE printer_language]

The HEX command denotes the start of the hexadecimal data. Subsequent text lines are interpreted as described above. If the TYPE parameter is present, the data will be sent to the printer only if the printer understands the specified printer language. The following printer languages are currently supported: POST (Postscript), PRES (Kyocera Prescribe) and PCL (HP Printer Control Language).

/: HEX [TYPE printer_language] [XPOS x_position] [YPOS y_position]

The output cursor is set to the absolute position indicated by the specified X and Y position parameters before the hexadecimal data is printed. If either the X or the Y position is not specified, then 0 will be assumed for this parameter.

The HEIGHT parameter determines the amount of space to be reserved on the page for the output of the hexadecimal data. Any text following the ENDHEX command will be printed below this point. If the LEFT parameter is also specified, then the output of the hexadecimal data will is indented from the left margin by the specified amount.

This data is printed only by an HP PCL printer (fro example, HP LaserJet). 7.5 cm of space is allocated on the page for the output of the data and the output cursor is indented 2.25 cm to the right of the form window edge.

You can use the RSTXLDMC program to upload correctly formatted pixel data to the R/3 system and to prepare it as a HEX-ENDHEX control command. This can then be saved as normal SAPscript text.

6.21 Summing a Program Symbol: SUMMING

The SUMMING command is used for accumulating a total value for a program symbol. The command should be specified just once. Then, each time the specified program symbol is formatted, its current value is added into the total symbol. Several program symbols may all be added into a single total symbol.

Syntax:

/: SUMMING program_symbol INTO total_symbol

SAPscript cannot create the field for the total dynamically. The symbol used must be defined in a TABLES structure in the calling program.

For details on summing and carrying forward, see Summing and Carrying Forward is Incorrect.

6.21.1 Summing and Carrying Forward is Incorrect

Assume that for a multiple-page invoice, you want to print the current total as carry forward amount or subtotal on the current page and on the subsequent page. However, the carry forward amount is incorrect or missing.

The following causes are possible:

You do not use program symbols with Dictionary reference for totalling.

You place the carry forward amount into the BOTTOM area. SAPscript processes the BOTTOM area at the beginning of a page; therefore it is not suited for carry forward amounts.

If you place the carry forwards amount into the TOP area of the main window on the subsequent page, the carry forward amount may be higher than it should be: This happens if the last part of text of the previous page does not fit onto the page, but the text is held together, for example, by a PROTECT command. In this case, a local text symbol must receive the carry forward amount.

You must place the carry forward amount on the current page into a window of type VAR. On the subsequent page, use a local text symbol to print the amount in the TOP area of the main window:
1. At the beginning of the form main text (before printing the first text element), define the amount variable and the total variable (both must be program symbols or Dictionary amount fields).
In the example below, we use the SUMMING command to determine that for each output of &SUMTAB-AMOUNT& the system automatically sums up the amount in the total variable &SUMTAB-TOTAL&. At the end of the page, &SUMTAB-TOTAL& contains the carry forward amount of the current page or the grand total, respectively.
In this example, we also define a local symbol &LASTPAGE& to print the grand total on the last page.

2. At the end of the form main text (when printing the last text element of the main window), set the local textsymbol &LASTPAGE& to a different value, such as ‘X’:

/: DEFINE &LASTPAGE& = ‘X’

3. To print the carry forward amount in the TOP area of the subsequent page including the pre-text 'Carry forward' and a tab, we use the local text symbol &CARRY. The corresponding text element is also defined in the main window:

4. Define the carry forward window on the current page as type VAR and position it at the end of the main window of the page. Print the carry forward amount there and define the local text symbol &CARRY& to print the amount again in the TOP area of the subsequent page. Use the local text symbol &LASTPAGE& to print the grand total on the last page. The carry forward window then contains the following text (define it as paragraph T1 with tab):

7 SAPscript Symbols

Text in the SAP system does not usually exist independently of other objects, but often contains a reference to some other stored object. For example, for a letter this could be the address data in the vendor master record or information in the material master record that is to be included in a purchase order text. You solve this problem by using placeholders for the data rather than entering the actual values into the text. Thus, you can create flexible text modules by using these placeholders at all points where the text needs to be variable. Since much of the data to be inserted in the text reflects the contents of fields in SAP tables, this technique ensures that the text modules always contain the current values of these fields when printed.

In SAPscript, these placeholders are known as symbols. They represent data that will not be added to the text until a later point. This is normally the point at which the output is formatted. All symbols occurring in the text are then replaced with their current values. This replacement is performed only in the output text. The original version of the text module is unaffected.

SAPscript recognizes four different kinds of symbols:

System symbols

Standard symbols

Program symbols

Text symbols.

The main difference between these is the source of their values. SAPscript provides values for the system symbols. Standard symbols and their values are defined in the TTDTG table. Program symbols represent data supplied by the program that is currently executing. The values for text symbols come either from control commands in the text itself or are supplied dynamically by the Include function in the text editor.

SAPscript automatically recognizes the type of a symbol. First of all, it checks whether the symbol is a system symbol. If not, then it checks whether the symbol name is defined in the data area of the calling program. In this case, it is a program symbol. Otherwise, SAPscript reads table TTDTG. If the symbol is found in this table, then it is a standard symbol. If a symbol is neither a system symbol nor a program symbol nor a standard symbol, then it is a text symbol.

7.1 Syntax of Symbols

Each symbol has a name that is used when the symbol is called. A call to a symbol is normally made in a line of text that also includes other kinds of text. Therefore it is necessary that symbols can be distinguished from normal text, and that the call is structured in such a way that it is possible to identify it as a call to a symbol.

Use the delimiter & both immediately before and after the symbol.

Do not use blank characters in the name of a symbol. Moreover, since the characters '+() are used for defining formatting options, you must not use any of these a symbol name either.

Make sure that no SAPscript editor line break occurs between the symbol delimiters. If necessary, use a long line to avoid this (paragraph format = or /=).

Enclose additional formatting options in round brackets and insert them immediately after the symbol name. The code letters identifying these options must be given in capitals.

A string that does not satisfy all the above conditions is not interpreted as a symbol but is copied directly into the output text.

The symbol names themselves are not case-sensitive, that is, SAP script does not distinguish between capital and lower case letters in symbol names. These symbol names are identical:

&mysymbol&
&Mysymbol&
&MYSYMBOL&

A symbol name can contain a maximum of 130 characters. However, only the first 32 characters are used for unique identification.

7.2 System Symbols

You can use system symbols in all kinds of text. SAPscript supplies the values for system symbols. The names of the system symbols are fixed.

7.2.1 Current Date

&DATE&

The current date is displayed. It is formatted according to the specifications found in the user master data. You can adapt this format to your own requirements by specifying a date mask (SET DATE MASK) or by using a country-specific formatting option (SET COUNTRY).

The current value for this symbol is taken from the SY-DATUM field. This value is not copied every time that the date is called, but only at the following times:

When printing starts (OPEN_FORM, PRINT_TEXT)

When symbols are replaced in the text editor

When a text is exported in the ASCII or RTF format

When the TEXT_SYMBOL_REPLACE function module is called (optional)

7.2.2 Current Day Number

&DAY&

The current day number is printed. The display includes leading zeros.

7.2.3 Current Month Number

&MONTH&

The current month number is printed. The display includes leading zeros.

7.2.4 Current Year Number

&YEAR&

This symbol is used to print the current year as a four digit number.

7.2.5 Current Day Name (Long Form)

&NAME_OF_DAY&

The name of the current day is written out in full. The language used for the output is determined by the appropriate text language or form language. The names of the days are stored in the TTDTG table under the key %%SAPSCRIPT_DDDD_dd, where dd is the day number (01= Monday,.., 07 = Sunday).

7.2.6 Current Month Name (Long Form)

&NAME_OF_MONTH&

The name of the current month is written out in full. The language used for the output is determined by the appropriate text language or form language. The names of the months are stored in the TTDTG table under the key %%SAPSCRIPT_MMMM_mm, where mm is the month number (01,.., 12).

7.2.7 Current Time

&TIME&

The current time is printed in the form hours:minutes:seconds. Each of the components for hours, minutes, and seconds consists of two digits, using a leading zero if necessary. You can adapt this format to your own requirements by specifying a time mask (SET TIME MASK).

The value for the time field is taken from the SY-UZEIT field. This value can be copied over only at particular times (c.f. DATE ).

7.2.8 Hours Component of Current Time

&HOURS&

The component of the current time referring to hours is printed. The display includes leading zeros.

7.2.9 Minutes Component of Current Time

&MINUTES&

The component of the current time referring to minutes is printed. The display includes leading zeros.

7.2.10 Seconds Component of Current Time

&SECONDS&

The component of the current time referring to seconds is printed. The display includes leading zeros.

7.2.11 Current Page Number

&PAGE&

You can use this symbol to insert into the text the page number that the current page will have when printed. You can specify the formatting option for the page number in the form for each page type.

7.2.12 Page Number of the Next Page

&NEXTPAGE&

This symbol is used to print the number of the following page. The output format is the same as with &PAGE& .

Note that on the last page of the output, in each window that is not of type MAIN, &NEXTPAGE& has the value 0.

7.2.13 Selected Device Type

&DEVICE&

The &DEVICE& symbol is used to print the type of the output device. This type is passed in the DEVICE parameter when the SAPscript output (OPEN_FORM, PRINT_TEXT) is started, and it specifies the device for which the output should be formatted.

Possible values are:

PRINTER
SCREEN
TELEX
TELEFAX
ABAP (ABAP list display)

7.2.14 Spaces

&SPACE&

You can use this symbol to generate a string of space characters. You must pass the number of space characters required with the symbol. If you leave out the number, then no spaces are printed.

7.2.15 Underline

&ULINE&

You can use this symbol to insert a string of underline characters into the output text. You must pass the number of underline characters required with the symbol. If you leave out the number, then just one underline character is printed.

7.2.16 Vertical Line

&VLINE&

You can use this symbol to insert a string of vertical line characters into the output text. You must pass the number of vertical line characters required with the symbol. If you leave out the number, then just one vertical line character is printed.

7.3 Program Symbols

The integration of SAPscript allows to link data that is stored in various applications of the SAP system into text modules; for example a form letter to be sent to several customers. The address information of these customers is in the SAP database and must be incorporated into the letter. SAPscript cannot read this data out of the SAP database itself, but has to call another program to do this. The data is then copied into work areas declared with TABLES.

Starting with Release 3.1G, you are no longer restricted to the TABLES statement. You can address any global variable using a program symbol. The system can evaluate the ABAP Dictionary information (output length, number of decimal places, and so on) not only for TABLES fields, but also for INFOTYPES fields and variables with a LIKE reference.

Example:

DATA: MYCOUNTRY LIKE USR03-LAND1.

The system considers all output characteristics that can be retrieved using the ABAP statement DESCRIBE.

If SAPscript is now called from this program to format a text, it can copy the data out of these work areas.

Symbols that obtain their values from this kind of data area are called program symbols. The value of a program symbol is limited up to a maximum of 255 characters. The name of a program symbol, when using TABLES statements, consists of the table name and the field name, separated by a hyphen. Examples of customer address fields are: &KNA1-NAME1&, &KNA1-ORT01&, &KNA1-PFACH&. Otherwise, the symbol is used in the way it is defined in the print program (for example, &MYCOUNTRY). When SAPscript encounters a symbol, it first checks whether the symbol is a system symbol. If it finds no corresponding entry, it tries to find a table or structure in the calling ABAP program (declared with TABLES). If there is, the symbol is a program symbol and SAPscript next checks in the Dictionary to see whether this table contains the specified field.

If there is no table or structure in the calling ABAP program, SAPscript checks whether the symbol is a standard symbol. If no entry is found in table TTDTG, the system checks the calling program for global definitions (DATA, CONSTANTS, INFOTYPE, PARAMETER). If it finds any definitions, SAPscript processes the symbol as program symbol.

Only if no global definitions are found either, does SAPscript process the symbol as text symbol.

Basically, a defined text symbol remains a text symbol even if in the print program, for example, a DATA statement with the same name is used.

For replacing the variables, the sequence of the variables in the corresponding text is decisive.

Form/text:

....
/: DEFINE &mysymbol& = ‘abc’
* &mysymbol&
....

Print program:

....
Data: mysymbol(5) value ‘xyz’.
....

In this example, in the form/text instead of &mysymbol& the value of the text symbol defined with DEFINE is printed: abc

Form/text:

....
* &mysymbol&
/: DEFINE &mysymbol& = ‘abc’
....

Print program:

....
Data: mysymbol(5) value ‘xyz’.
....

In this example, in the form/text instead of &mysymbol& the value of the program symbol defined in the print program is printed: xyz

Usually, SAPscript looks for the table work areas and the global variables in the main part of the ABAP program that was started. For example, if you call function modules that you want to use the table work areas, enter the name of the corresponding program in the field TDPROGRAM of the structure you can enter in the OPTIONS parameter at OPEN_FORM. This definition is then valid for all program symbols up to the next CLOSE_FORM. However, you can also specify the name of the program in the PROGRAM parameter of the START_FORM function module. If you do this, it will be valid up to the next END_FORM. If this parameter is not set in START_FORM, then the setting in OPEN_FORM applies.

For formatting a program symbol, SAPscript uses the specifications found in the Dictionary (output length, formatting routine, and so on). Certain data types require additional information out of other fields to format a value. For example, the contents of a currency field can be formatted correctly only when the information from the currency field key is also available. SAPscript itself is responsible for obtaining the necessary information from the Dictionary.

For printing the program symbols, SAPscript uses the WRITE statement of the ABAP programming language. The effect of this statement is controlled externally via parameters (such as specifications in the user master record, table T005X), depending on the data type. If a program symbol is not printed in the way you expected it, first check whether the control parameters stated above are set correctly.

To fields of the table work areas shown below, you can refer in all SAPscript text modules:

7.3.1 SYST: System Fields in the ABAP Programming Environment

You can refer to all the fields in this table. You should, however, note that some of the fields are specific to a certain environment. They contain values that do not come from your application but have been set by the SAPscript programming environment (for example, SYST-REPID).

7.3.2 USR03: User Address Data

This structure contains information from the user master record for a given user:

Business address

Telecommunication (telephone, telefax)

Other data such as user language, department, cost center.

You can maintain the contents of these fields in the ‘Address’ section of the user maintenance.

If this table exists in the calling program, then SAPscript copies the data from the work area of this program. Otherwise, SAPscript uses the values for the currently active user.

7.3.3 SAPSCRIPT: General SAPscript Fields

You can print the following fields of structure SAPSCRIPT as program symbols in SAPscript forms:

&SAPSCRIPT-SUBRC&:

Receives a value after executing an INCLUDE statement. The value shows whether the INCLUDE was found (that is, the INCLUDE text exists) or not. You can query this value in an IF statement.

INCLUDE was found: &SAPSCRIPT-SUBRC& = 0

INCLUDE was not found: &SAPSCRIPT-SUBRC& = 4.

&SAPSCRIPT-DRIVER&:

SAPscript formats a text for a specific output device. The initial formatting is independent of the specific language of this device. SAPscript then calls a driver to convert the device-independent format to device-specific control commands. This field contains the name of the driver.

POST Postscript driver

HPL2 HP Laserjet driver for the PCL4/PCL5 languages

PRES Driver for output devices using the PRESCRIBE language

The available drivers are stored in table TSP09.

&SAPSCRIPT-FORMPAGES&:This field contains a number representing the total number of pages of the currently formatted form (any output between START_FORM and END_FORM). The page counter mode (START, INC, HOLD) of the individual pages is ignored. You can use this symbol to formulate information like‘Page x of y’ for your output.

&SAPSCRIPT-JOBPAGES&:This field contains a number representing the total number of pages of all forms contained in the currently formatted print request, in other words, of all forms created using the OPEN_FORM, START_FORM.. ENDFORM, START_FORM.. END_FORM,..., CLOSE_FORM function modules.

When using the SAPSCRIPT-FORMPAGES or SAPSCRIPT-JOBPAGES symbols, SAPscript leads all output pages of the current form or current print request into main memory to replace the symbol by the appropriate value. For large output jobs, this can mean a very large amount of memory.

&SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_x& (x = 0.. 9):These fields represent ten counter variables that you can use in your text and forms for any counting purposes. You can use the ‘+’ and ‘-’ formatting options to increment or decrement a counter before its value is printed. You can use the DEFINE control command to assign any specific value to a counter.

&SAPSCRIPT-TELELAND&: This field contains the country key of the fax target address when using fax output via SAPscript (field ITCPO-TDTELELAND of parameter OPTIONS of function module OPEN_FORM).

&SAPSCRIPT-TELENUM&: This field contains the local fax number of the fax target address when using fax output via SAPscript (field ITCPO-TDTELENUM of parameter OPTIONS of function module OPEN_FORM).

&SAPSCRIPT-TELENUME&: This field contains the complete fax number of the fax target address when using fax output via SAPscript (field ITCPO-TDTELENUME of parameter OPTIONS of the function module OPEN_FORM).

7.4 Standard Symbols

Standard symbols are defined in table TTDTG. This table contains both the name of each symbol and its value. The value, which is language-dependent, can contain up to 60 characters. SAP supplies this table filled with standard entries. You can extend it with customer-specific symbols.

You can use standard symbols in all kinds of text.

7.5 Text Symbols

All symbols that do not correspond to one of the three types of symbol described above are text symbols. You define the value of a text symbol yourself in the text module.

There are two ways of doing this:

In the text editor, choose Include  Symbols  Text.

All the text symbols contained either in the current text or in a form assigned to the text are displayed. You can assign a value of up to 60 characters to a text symbol. Enter this value in the same form as it is to appear in the output.

The effect of assigning a value is temporary, since the values assigned are not stored with the text but are lost as soon as you leave the editor. You use this kind of value assignment if you had a ready-made text containing symbols that you want to print with specific values in place of the symbols, and you want to do this only once without storing the ‘changed’ text.

In the text, use the control command DEFINE.

Since control commands are stored with the text module, any value you assign in this way is preserved when you save the text. You can change the value assigned to a symbol in the text at any time simply by issuing another DEFINE command.

Remember always to use the ' (inverted comma) character to delimit a value. The maximal length for these values is also 60 characters.

7.6 Formatting Options

The value of a symbol is normally printed using its full length, although trailing spaces are removed. An exception are program symbols of these data types: CURR, DEC, QUAN, INT1 INT2, INT4, PREC, and FLTP. These are formatted right-justified with an output length as specified in the Dictionary.

You can adapt the standard formatting to your own requirements by using one of the additional formatting options available. You supply the parameters for these options together with the symbol itself. Many of these options are abbreviated to a single letter, which has to be given as a capital letter. You can combine two or more options on a single symbol, as long as the result still makes sense.

7.6.1 Offset

Specifying an offset has the effect that a certain number of bytes of the symbol value, starting with the first byte on the left, will not be displayed. If the offset specified is greater than the length of the value, nothing is printed.

Syntax

&symbol+offset&

If < symbol> has the value 123456789, the following will be displayed:

7.6.2 Output Length

If you need only a part of the symbol value, or the output has to fit into a box or a field on the screen without overlapping the edges of this area, then you can use an output length specification to define how many bytes of the value should be copied.

Syntax

&symbol(length)&

If < symbol> has the value 123456789.

&symbol(3)& -> 123
&symbol(7)& -> 1234567

You can combine an output length specification with an offset specification. The specified length is then counted from the specified offset position.

&symbol+4(3)& -> 567

If a length specified is greater than the current length of the value, then spaces are appended to the symbol value.

You can use the character * to specify the length of a program symbol. The value of the symbol is then printed using the output length defined in the ABAP Dictionary.

Syntax

&symbol(*)&

The SYST-UNAME field contains the logon name of a user called Einstein . The Dictionary entry for this field contains an output length of 12.

7.6.3 Omitting the Leading Sign

Program symbols with numeric values can have a leading sign. This sign usually appears to the right of the numeric value, either as a space for positive numbers, or as a minus sign for negative numbers . You can use t he S option to ensure that the value is formatted without the sign .

Syntax

&symbol(S)&

The ITCDP-TDULPOS field contains the value -100.00. The ABAP Dictionary definition for this field includes a leading sign.

&ITCDP-TDULPOS& -> 100.00-
&ITCDP-TDULPOS(S)& -> 100.00

7.6.4 Leading Sign to the Left

The leading sign is normally displayed to the right of a numeric value, except in the case of a floating point number. This option enables you to specify that the leading sign should be placed to the left of the number.

Syntax

&symbol(<)&
&ITCDP-TDULPOS& -> 100.00-
&ITCDP-TDULPOS(<)& -> -100.00

The SET SIGN LEFT control command specifies that all subsequent symbols with a numeric value should have a left-justified leading sign. If you use this control command, you must no longer repeat the < option for each individual symbol.

7.6.5 Leading Sign to the Right

The default setting is to print the leading sign to the right of a numeric value. If you used the SET SIGN LEFT control command to specify that the leading sign should be printed in front of the value, you can override this specification for individual symbols. The symbols specified with the > option are then printed with the leading sign to the right.

Syntax:

&symbol(>)&

You can use the SET SIGN RIGHT control command to switch back to the default setting for the output of the leading sign.

7.6.6 Omitting Leading Zeros

Certain symbol values are printed with leading zeros. If you want to suppress these, use the Z option.

Syntax

&symbol(Z)&

Assuming the current date is 1.1.1994,

&DAY& -> 01
&DAY(Z)& -> 1

7.6.7 Space Compression

The symbol value is viewed as a sequence of ‘words’, each separated from the next by either one or a string of space characters. The C option has the effect of replacing each string of space characters with a single space and shifting the ‘words’ to the left as necessary to close up the gaps. Leading spaces are completely removed. The results are the same as those of the ABAP command CONDENSE.
Syntax:

&symbol(C)&

Assuming ' Albert Einstein ' is the symbol value,

&symbol& -> Albert Einstein
&symbol(C)& -> Albert Einstein

7.6.8 Number of Decimal Places

A program symbol of one of the data types DEC, QUAN, and FLTP can contain decimal place data. Use the option below to override the Dictionary definition for the number of decimal places for the formatting of this symbol value.

Syntax

&symbol(.N)&

The EKPO-MENGE field contains the value 1234.56. The Dictionary definition specifies 3 decimal places and an output length of 17.

7.6.9 Omitting the Separator for ‘Thousands’

Symbols of the DEC, CURR, INT, and QUAN data types are normally formatted with the a ‘thousands’ separator character. The T option allows you to omit this separator character.

Syntax:

&symbol(T)&

The EKPO-MENGE field contains the value 1234.56. The Dictionary definition specifies 3 decimal places and an output length of 17.

&EKPO-MENGE& -> 1,234.560
&EKPO-MENGE(T)& -> 1234.560

7.6.10 Specifying an Exponent for Floating Point Numbers

The way a floating point number is formatted depends on whether an exponent is specified. The mantissa is adjusted by shifting the decimal point and, if necessary, introducing leading zeros, according to the exponent chosen. Using an exponent value of 0 means that the exponent representation will not be used for displaying the symbol.

Syntax

&symbol(EN)&

If you specify an exponent of 0, then the number is displayed without using the exponent representation. This has the same effect as completely omitting the specification of an exponent: &symbol(E0)& has the same effect as &symbol(E)&

In this example, the PLMK-SOLLWERT field is assumed to have the value 123456.78 and to be of data type FLTP.

7.6.11 Right-Justified Output

Symbol values other than numeric values are normally formatted left-justified. To specify right-justified formatting, use the R option. You must use this option in conjunction with an output length specification.

Syntax

&symbol(R)&

If symbol has the value 1234.

&symbol& -> 1234
&symbol(8R) -> 1234

For program symbols, the length specification contained in the Dictionary definition may be used instead of an explicit length.

7.6.12 Fill Characters

You can replace leading spaces in a value with a fill character. Use the F option with the character immediately following the F in the specification as the fill character.

Syntax

&symbol(F f )&

f = fill character

The figure for customer sales in the KNA1-UMSAT field is $700. The Dictionary description of the field specifies an output length 8.

7.6.13 Suppressing Output of Initial Values

Use the I option to suppress the output of symbols that still contain their initial values.

Syntax

&symbol(I)&

Assuming KNA1-UMSAT contains the value 0 and the currency is DEM.

&KNA1-UMSAT& -> 0,00
&KNA1-UMSAT(I)& ->

If the field contains an amount other than 0, this value is printed in the normal way.

&KNA1-UMSAT& -> 700,00
&KNA1-UMSAT(I)& -> 700,00

7.6.14 Ignoring Conversion Routines

SAPscript conversion routines specified in the Dictionary are automatically recognized and used when program symbols are formatted. To suppress conversion, use the K option.

Syntax

&symbol(K)&

7.6.15 Changing the Value of a Counter

You can increase or decrease the value of a SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_x (x=0.. 9) counter variable by 1, before the current counter value is printed.

Syntax:

&SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_x(+)& Increases by 1 the contents of the counter variable x (x=0.. 9)
&SAPSCRIPT-COUNTER_x(-)& Decreases by 1 the contents of the counter variable x (x=0.. 9)

If you want to change the value of a counter variable without actually printing the new value, use this formatting option together with an additional option to set the output length to 0 (see above). If you want to set a counter variable to some specific value, use the DEFINE control command.

7.6.16 Preceding and Subsequent Texts (Pre-Text / Post-Text)

In addition to using initial values for symbols, you can specify additional texts that are printed only when the value of the symbol is no longer the initial value. You can specify a text to be printed immediately before the symbol value (the pre-text), and a text to be printed immediately after the symbol value (the post-text). If the symbol contains its initial value, these texts are suppressed.

Syntax:

&'pre-text'symbol'post-text'&

Make sure that the symbol, the pre-text, and the post-text all appear on a single line of the editor. You may have to use a long line (paragraph attribute = or /=) in the editor.

The inverted comma ' is used as a delimiter for these texts. If this character is also part of one of these texts, enter it twice at this point, so that it is not interpreted as a delimiter character. A pre-text or post-text may itself contain symbols in addition to normal text. However, these symbols may not have a pre-text or a post-text.

The KNA1-PFACH field contains a customer P.O. Box number. Since the text "P.O. Box" is not stored in the field along with the value, you would normally write the following for the P.O. Box line of an address:

P.O. Box &KNA1-PFACH&

However, if no P.O. Box has been specified, the text "P.O. Box" would still appear on its own in the address. To prevent this, use pre-text or post-text (in this case, pre-text).

P.O. Box &KNA1-PFACH& -> P.O. Box
&'P.O. Box 'KNA1-PFACH& ->

If a P.O. Box has been specified, then this will be displayed together with the appropriate text in the normal way.

&'P.O. Box 'KNA1-PFACH& -> P.O. Box 123456

7.7 Country-Dependent Formatting

Certain fields are formatted specific to a particular country. These include fields for displaying a date and numeric fields containing either a decimal point or a ‘thousands’ separator character. The formatting applied is usually determined by the definitions contained in the user master record. You can use the SET COUNTRY control command to choose a different formatting operation. The various country-dependent formatting options are stored in table T005X.

Syntax

/: SET COUNTRY country_key

You can specify this country key either by quoting it directly enclosed in inverted commas or by using a symbol.

/: SET COUNTRY 'CAN'
/: SET COUNTRY &KNA1-LAND1&

You can revert to the settings of the user master record by using the SET COUNTRY control command again with an empty country name.

/: SET COUNTRY ' '

When SAPscript encounters this command it calls the corresponding ABAP command internally. The effect of the SAPscript command is thus identical with that of the ABAP command.

If the formatting turns out other than expected, check the settings in table T005X.

7.7.1 Date Mask

To format date fields, use the SAPscript SET DATE MASK command. Executing this command causes all subsequent date fields to be printed with the specified formatting.

Syntax

/: SET DATE MASK = 'date_mask'

The following templates may be used in the date mask:

DD day (two digits)

DDD name of day (abbreviated)

DDDD name of day (written out in full)

MM month (two digits)

MMM name of month (abbreviated)

MMMM name of month (written out in full)

YY year (two digits)

YYYY year (four digits)

LD day (formatted as for the L option)

LM month (formatted as for the L option)

LY year (formatted as for the L option)

Any other characters occurring in the mask are interpreted as simple text and are copied directly to the output.

Assuming a current system date of March 1st, 1997.

/: SET DATE MASK = 'Foster City, MM.DD.YY'

&DATE& -> Foster City, 03.01.97

&DATE(Z)& -> Foster City, 3.1.97

/: SET DATE MASK = 'MMMM DD, YYYY'

&DATE& -> March 01, 1997

You can revert to the standard setting by using the SET DATE MASK command again with an empty string in place of the date mask:

/: SET DATE MASK = ' '

7.7.2 Time Mask

You can use the SAPscript SET TIME MASK command to format time fields in a way that differs from the standard setting. Executing this command causes all subsequent time fields to be printed with the specified formatting.

Syntax:

/: SET TIME MASK = 'time_mask'

The following templates may be used in the time mask:

HH hours (two digits)

MM minutes (two digits)

SS seconds (two digits)

Any other characters occurring in the mask are interpreted as simple text and are copied directly to the output.

You can revert to the standard setting by using the SET TIME MASK command again with an empty string in place of the time mask:

/: SET TIME MASK = ' '

7.8 Formatting Conventions

Many allowed combinations of option and symbol type either make no sense or have no effect at all. The formatting process is divided into two stages: primary formatting and end formatting. The purpose of primary formatting is to convert the internal form of a symbol value to a character-based form. The end formatting is then applied to this intermediate form. The following sections describe the formatting process for each kind of symbol and in which of the two stages of conversion the various options are applied.

7.8.1 Primary Formatting of System Symbols

Certain system symbols must first be converted from their internal representation into a character representation before the end formatting can be applied to them. The following system symbols require a primary conversion:

&DAY&, &MONTH&, &YEAR&, &HOURS&, &MINUTES&, &SECONDS& The relevant components are extracted from the system date or system time. Leading zeros are eliminated if the Z formatting option is specified.

&DATE& The default behavior is that the system date is printed according to the setting in the user master record or according to the country-dependent formatting specified in a SET COUNTRY command. If a date mask has been defined (using SET DATE MASK), then the formatting specified there is used for the output.

&TIME& The default behavior is that the current system time is printed in the formhours:minutes:seconds If an alternative time mask is specified (using SET TIME MASK) then this mask overrides the default setting.

&PAGE&, &NEXTPAGE& This symbols are initially converted using the options specified in the form of the page definition.

&LDATE& This date representation is always formatted using the JPDAT conversion routine.

All remaining system symbols are treated by the primary conversion as a character string and thus are not converted.
The end conversion is started when the primary conversion is complete.

7.8.2 Primary Formatting of Standard Symbols

Standard symbols are treated by the primary formatting as a character string and thus are not converted. The end formatting is started immediately.

7.8.3 Primary Formatting of Program Symbols

Program symbols are initially converted from their internal representation into a character representation. This is done using the ABAP WRITE command together with additional parameters as appropriate for the specified options. The options to which the primary conversion applies depend on the data type.

The formatting is carried out in an internal work field by the ABAP WRITE command. This field is chosen according to the data type and length. The various options are handled by appropriate extensions to the WRITE commands:

S
NO-SIGN
Z NO-ZERO
. DECIMALS
E EXPONENT
I A check is made for an initial value by using an IF statement to do an IS INITIAL comparison.

1 ABAP WRITE currently ignores this option for floating point numbers.

2 The value is formatted using the ABAP WRITE command in a work field with the specified length

If a conversion routine is defined in the ABAP Dictionary, then the primary formatting is performed using this routine only. In this case, none of the options listed in this table are applicable unless you deactivate the conversion routine with the K option.

After the primary conversion of a program symbol is completed, the formatted value is then subjected to the end formatting.

7.8.4 Primary Formatting of Text Symbols

Text symbols are treated by the primary formatting as a character string and thus are not converted. The end formatting is started immediately.

7.8.5 End Formatting

In end formatting, the following formatting options are applied to the symbol value in the given order. These are the same for all symbol types.

If the C option is used, a space compression is performed.

If the L option is used, local date formatting is performed.

If an offset is specified, the offset is interpreted.

If an output length is specified then the length is interpreted.

If a fill character is specified (the F option), these are added to the formatted value.

If pre-texts and post-texts are soecified, they are processed and added to the formatted value.

Copyright 1998-2015 Ziff Davis, LLC (Toolbox.com). All rights reserved. All product names are trademarks of their respective companies. Toolbox.com is not
affiliated with or endorsed by any company listed at this site.